STALKER Troubles?

[Taco]

Spotted at HardOCP (http://www.hardocp.com) is this bit about STALKER (http://www.ggmania.com/?smsid=20774):

STALKER always was in the state of general design. It's always been a project which was more spoken of than really done." Another source claims that at the end of November THQ made a decision to stop financing the development and to conduct a thorough revision to gain control over the development process. "We don't care what shape the game will ship in anymore, - said one of the THQ bosses to an IGN journalist, - the game must ship in 2006".
Hate to lose a PC game, but is this very shocking?

Editor's Note - Gamecloud has posted a very short article (http://www.gamecloud.com/article.php?article_id=3252) in which GSC Gameworld's PR Director, Oleg V. Yavorsky, denies these rumors. He's quoted as saying "[we are] working full throttle on completing the game".

[ezra]

Damnit! This game looked so good two years ago!

[Schnoogs]

This is horrible news...I've been looking forward to this game for years now.

[Ridlin]

Sounds like it went down to "feature creep". The Devs just kept going an going. With every fix of a feature they must have thought of two others to have problems with. I fight it with my current project at work all of the time (not a videogame).

[JazGalaxy]

Sounds like it went down to "feature creep". The Devs just kept going an going. With every fix of a feature they must have thought of two others to have problems with. I fight it with my current project at work all of the time (not a videogame).

I don't get why a developer would say to an internet games journalist "we don't even care about the shape the game ships in anymore"

[aj1pso]

"We don't care what shape the game will ship in anymore, - said one of the THQ bosses to an IGN journalist, - the game must ship in 2006".


Veeeery bad move.

[drakkarim]

"We don't care what shape the game will ship in anymore, - said one of the THQ bosses to an IGN journalist, - the game must ship in 2006".

judging by the quality of games that come out these days, i'd bet publishers tell developers that same line all the time. this is just the first one that was stupid enough to get quoted on it.

[Draft]

"We don't care what shape the game will ship in anymore, - said one of the THQ bosses to an IGN journalist, - the game must ship in 2006".


Veeeery bad move.But you cannot just throw money at a project forever.

[Deadend]

Well, I kinda feel bad for THQ, from the articles, it sounds like STALKER was not even being worked on. The article says that big parts of the STALKER team are working on new games at the same studio and that they are thinking about a new engine.

If I was THQ I would be pissed too and wanting to get that shit out there.

[Adam Blue]

This blows....I was looking forward to it.

[ElectricMonk]

not surprising at all.. has there ever been a russian made game that ended up ok?

they always sell themselves short for publisher money then never have enough to finish it properly.

[Neosho]

Same, but i'm not the least bit suprised about it...odd cause i remember playing what felt like a nicely done alpha...was entertaining enough if you could get over the general alpha-ness of it. Had a lot of potental, got me quite stoked about the game...kinda like Soldner...man was that game a flop.

[RMan]

this is just the first one that was stupid enough to get quoted on it.
Yea, that's just amazing to me. May as well say "we'll have the game out soon, but don't bother buying it".

[Spiffae]

[QUOTE=ElectricMonk]not surprising at all.. has there ever been a russian made game that ended up ok?QUOTE]

Off the top of my head, IL-2 Sturmovik, and Pacific Fighters, two of the finest games ever made. There are plenty more as costs are low in Russia.

[Morrolan]

I am ASTOUNDED that THQ put up with this team for as long as they have.

[Exodus]

I was looking forward to stalker as much as anyone. It's definitely in the vaporware category.

[Liquidize105]

It was over-ambitious, but man, dead in the water after going gold?

[Rafer]

not surprising at all.. has there ever been a russian made game that ended up ok?

It's being made in (and takes place in) Ukraine. Though my impression is that the developers are Russian speaking Ukrainians so I guess there's some confusion.

[hund_]

Damnit! This game looked so good two years ago!

played the alpha and it seemed they had the engine down.it had miles of virtual countryside[real good exploring stuff] and good fps.

[Klade]

I'm not surprised they are having problems but it is let down all the same. They were simply trying to bite off more then they could chew.

Thats not a comment on russian developers either. They were trying to make the best AI system any game has ever seen. Thats probably whats holding them up still. Doing AI right so that not only do npc's interact intelligently but also in ways appropriate to their function (rats attack in groups, men try to ambush you etc) is a bitch. You to have make multiple AI's, one for each type of character.

[Stooby]

They should just rip the project from this team and give it to another team to hammer out the rest of the game.

I was really looking forward to this game, but now it is looking like the developers have 3DRealmsitis.

[Emabulator]

They should just rip the project from this team and give it to another team to hammer out the rest of the game.

I was really looking forward to this game, but now it is looking like the developers have 3DRealmsitis.Sounds good in theory, but one has to wonder if there's anything there worth saving.

[Paranoia]

Meh. This game was overrated from the beginning. I'm baffled as to why it got such a hype.

[raVen]

I still had a fools hope that they'd finish it this year, and that it would be awesome. Not now D:

[Lunar Blue]

Meh. This game was overrated from the beginning. I'm baffled as to why it got such a hype.

FPS Fallout, how can you not get excited? ;)

[Zanzibar]

Hey, cool! The THQ Rep? I know who it is ;)

[Qoz]

This is so predictable.
What makes us (web people) hype a game is the screenshots and the engine tech. When a russian game recieves hype, they get money and are able to continue working on the gameplay. BUT these developers seldom have good people to actually make something with the pretty graphics. The people getting the money to do the games are the ones who can display pretty graphics, but cannot get a game together. I bet Russia has great game developers, but they are seldom working with people who can make pretty graphics. It's sad, but quite simple.
What publishers need to do when signing "pretty russian tech demos" is to send skilled people to help them with the actual gamedesign or help them hire people to make the game come together. I have seen many Russian games getting hyped on the net and then disappearing completely. Some make it to market, but suck so badly (Devastation). I'm actually surprised that THQ let them burn cash without serioulsy checking up on them - especially with such a daunting premise for a game. It was bound to go wrong.

[RainOfTerror]

Might very well be that the original article over at gamemag.ru is bogus ..

GSC World's, the developer, PR rep has replied saying that the article is inacurate and the few layoffs that happened were people who got let go due to the fact that the graphics engine they were working on is nearly finished, and a few other were put on Heroes of Annihilated Empire (or whatever its called).

He says STALKER is nearing completion and is still very much alive.

[Qoz]

If STALKER delivers on all promises I'll be a happy man! And change my mind on Russian game development.

What I fear the most is that I'm unable to immerse myself in the game because of little details not being realistic or polished. When you have so much compelexity you increase the chance of unwanted behavior. Imagine a house where you can easily trap monsters/stalkers in a hole and shoot them if you lure them there. It would seem kinda silly to lure humans into a hole. Or if you stand on special kind of elevated ground monsters can't hit you etc. etc. Personally I want polish before features, but I hope STALKER delivers.

[CapnAJ]

Hehe, you've got to love the internet. It often just becomes an uncontrollable rumour mill, one that gathers such great speed, so great in fact that the truth is often missed.

[Taco]

Got to love people that enjoy pretending they're in the know, then not only not back it up, but not even enlighten the rest of us.

[CapnAJ]

Touchy... ;)

Ok, no need to back up my comment, but I'll enlighten you as to the source of such comments. My sources are; Cynicism and sarcasm.

Cynicism Alert!! "We don't care what shape the game will ship in anymore, - said one of the THQ bosses to an IGN journalist, - the game must ship in 2006". That quote just seems way too good to be true.

[Cool AN]

All this "Russian developers" thing is ridiculous, GSC the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R has made the extremly popular RTS series Cossacks, and I am sure there are many other great games from Russia. It is even ridiculous because GSC is Ukranien

[bapenguin]

Well..this blows.

[Ervin]

Russian game development? Come on!

IL-2 Sturmovik - the best and most fun flight simulator ever created. And I don't think that kind of project would ever have been possible in the "west", since the attention to detail etc. is too big - it'd cost too much. So I'm quite happy there's some very good Russian developers around...

[Cubfan]

In communist russia developers don't make games, games make.... ok I'll stop.

[mpsmith]

Im glad theyre trying to refute this stuff. If STALKER is anything close to what was promised it could change the FPS horizon. Its a very ambitious (and therefore difficult) project, to be sure. I hope they pull it off.

[Taco]

I suppose. A PR guy saying no more than "we are working hard" though? Not sure how that denies anything. Call that the cynic in me.

[Taco]

Didn't follow through to the second link, pertinent info:

However, GSC Game World has now dismissed the reports. "What you're talking about is a completely unjustified rumour which appeared on the net just recently," the developer's senior PR manager Oleg V. Yavorsky told us when queried on this latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 'news'. Saying that his entire morning's been spent "clarifying the situation to [the] public today", he added "...the whole buzz is nothing but a hoax."

Still cynical about anything a "PR Director" has to say.

[AntB]

This game will make it, if the developers have to do it on their own time it will make it.


/Russian speakin Ukranian myself

Qoz, your spouting out of your ass.

[Gel214th]

not surprising at all.. has there ever been a russian made game that ended up ok?

they always sell themselves short for publisher money then never have enough to finish it properly.

AFAIK Nival is a Russian/Ukrainian or are in that region of the world. And they produce excellent titles. Silent Storm was stellar for turn based combat.

That said, it is certainly an ambitious title, and perhaps they did try to do too much. They seem to want the most all encompassing AI in a FPS, a game that would seem to have near infinite replayability if the AI reacts on its own the way they describe. Excellent for players, and may make creating engaging new maps a breeze for modders.

But to develop something like this? It seems like a very very far reaching project and most Publishing companies just don't have that sort of staying power, especially for a PC only title.

It almost seems comparable to the work and development cycle which goes into a Modern Comabt Flight Sim (Full Radar and weapons modelling, High Fidelity Flight Models etc).

And those are almost always bug ridden messes for at least a year after release while the Developers get a handle on how things function 'in the wild' so to speak. I don't expect anything more from Stalker, but I would like them to get the game out there if only to set a standard for 'what to aim for'. and hopefully they will get the funding to continue patching it.
-----------

This response from the developers
I have called Grigorovich and, after elaborating on the situation, write that on Friday on another regular meeting it had been decided to transfer some of the designers to the Heroes of Annihilated Empires development team and to dismiss some of those who are no longer required. To be exact: from 40 members of the staff two were transfered to work on graphics in the RTS department and five were dismissed. When I asked Sergey about the reason, he replied that all the graphics in STALKER is almost finished and there are more than enough designers for the Heroes of Annihilated Empires.

None of those from the leaders, lead designers, programmers and especially testers weren't fired and it's ridiculous to even think about something like this. That's an approximate re-telling of the telephone conversation. And as for "failing to receive an official comment from GSC" Sergey said to "call me on the cell phone, I'm always available". All the press knows his coordinates, mine too.

Now, from myself, sorry, but it's becoming painful: what's the reason for bothering our STALKER so much - you've got your own Russian developers. Look at HOMM5: four years in development already, I looked at the beta yesterday... But somehow there are no caustic remarks about developers not being on time with the project. And as soon as we have graphics finished - Gamemag straight away writes that STALKER's got problems.

Dear press, don't be YELLOW. If you need any information, feel free to phone/write us.

You hear that!!! DONT BE YELLOW DAMMIT!
^_^ hee hee hee

[alienchild]

STALKER = Trespasser