S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, previously known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost, is an unreleased first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. The game uses the "X-Ray engine" and features a theme based on an alternative reality, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in the near future and causes strange changes in the area around it. The game is expected to have a non-linear storyline and feature gameplay elements such as trading and two-way communication with NPCs. The game is described as including some role-playing and economic elements.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the player assumes the identity of a "Stalker", or illegal explorer/artifact gatherer, in "The Zone". "The Zone" is the location of an alternate reality version of the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Power Plant, which contaminated the surrounding area with radiation, and caused strange otherworldly changes in localized fauna, flora and even the laws of physics.

GSC Game World revealed some details about the game's AI in January 2005. IGN reported that the game, while similar to Far Cry, will include more wildlife, and that the animals' behavior in the game is of equal importance to them as the humans'. The animals' aggressiveness will vary with their levels of hunger and rest, as well as other factors. Thus, the game will have some element of fight or flight to it. [link]

Some terminology of the game ("The Zone", "Stalker") as well as the background idea is borrowed from the popular science fiction book Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky.

Contents

1 Technical features

1.1 X-Ray engine
1.2 AI (Artificial Intelligence) in S.T.A.L.K.E.R

2 Gameplay
3 Initial concept
4 Development delay
5 References
6 External links

Technical features

X-Ray engine

The X-Ray engine is currently considered a next-generation first person shooter engine. It has been said to support the latest DirectX 9.0 effects and graphical techniques, such as pixel shading and vertex shading, and features a competent physics engine similar to the middleware physics engine Havok. Through the eyes of many previewers and fans, many consider the graphics on-par with Half-Life 2's Source engine.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) in S.T.A.L.K.E.R

One of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s main features mentioned by its development studio is the squad based AI which has featured prominently in many previews. This is part of a larger aim of the developer (GSC) to create what they call a 'living breathing world' in which creatures, other Stalkers, the Military and a whole host of animals, interact with each other in order to create a feeling of realism in the game as yet unparalled. One example of this system in action was quoted in a February edition of PC Gamer (UK), which described a pack of mutated dogs attacking a military squad (who called for backup in the form of a helicopter). Once the dogs had finished off one of the patrolling squad members they scurried off, before the helicopter with its reinforcements touched down.

The AI is split into two main systems; online and offline. The online system governs the movements, activities and interactions between all the computer-controlled characters in the current playing area, including the sophisticated combat AI. Behind the scenes, the second AI system, or "Life" system, manages the game's many characters on a much broader scale. Based on many variables, this AI calculates the actions of characters not visible to the player and outside of the current game area, throughout the entire game world. The AI works out and sets fourth actions as to where and when other characters and creatures move, shelter, eat, sleep, and to whom or what the characters talk to, attack or trade with. The game's designers are quoted as saying it's even possible for an AI character to finish the game before you.

Gameplay

Gameplay revolves around the player, who is a Stalker, a person who lives in the Zone and creates a living by collecting artifacts and selling them. There is a fairly large arsenal of weapons, ranging from the melee weapon (the knife) to assault rifles (such as the F2000) to pistols (such as the M9 Beretta). There are also vehicles to drive, such as trucks and cars, (including a BTR-80). Players will be able to explore over 30 square kilometers of the Zone, including the ghost town of Pripyat and the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, while encountering animals mutated by radiation as well as other Stalkers and NPCs.

Gameplay is meant to be an RPG/FPS hybrid, though according to the developers, you will not gain 'attributes' or increased powers as in a traditional RPG. The roleplaying part will thus likely focus on storyline and character interaction. One aspect of the ropeplaying function as it pertains to character interaction is the branching 'conversation tree' that includes the ability to vary your selected responses to the other characters in the game world while talking and trading with them. You decide what kind of 'tone' or attitude you would like to take with the other Stalkers and NPCs in the game by selecting approprate conversation choices. Reportedly, you have the ability to vary your responses when talking with the NPCs, and you can decide whether to take a more 'friendly' tone or a more 'mean' or 'disrespectful' one. All of the NPCs throughout the game will react accordingly based upon your previous interactions with others and the 'reputation' you have made for yourself as either a 'nice person,' a 'trouble-maker,' or somewhere in between.

Initial concept

Early in the development of the game it was named Oblivion Lost, and the game was planned to have more of a futuristic theme before the idea was reworked to set the game in Chernobyl. Eventually, this was reflected in the change of the game's subtitle to Shadow of Chernobyl. Screenshots and trailers of this early version can be found on various web sites, depicting the robots and spacecraft originally planned for the game.

While the source of the Zone may still turn out to have extraterrestrial connections (like in Roadside Picnic, where the Zone is thought to have been an absent-minded, accidential creation of a careless, vastly superior alien race), there is no indication that such more direct manifestations will return.

Development delay

In February, 2005, THQ expressed desire to see the game released toward the end of its 2006 fiscal year (March 31, 2006) but maintained that no release date had been set. [link] In October, 2005, THQ confirmed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will not be out "until the second half of THQ's 2007 fiscal year - October 2006 at the earliest." [link] In February of 2006, THQ revised this possible release window, saying the game would not be in stores until the first quarter of 2007. [link].

In an interview at the Russian Gameland Awards, PR Manager Oleg Yavorsky indicated that release was planned for September 2006. The 2007 date is a fall-back date.

The game was first announced in November 2001 and has had its release date, originally in 2003, pushed back several times. Over the course of its development, several hundred screenshots of the game have been released, as well as several dozen preview video clips. Despite this, and other promotions by GSC, such as inviting fans to their offices in Kiev to play the current build of the game, some consider Stalker to be vaporware [], like the game Duke Nukem Forever, or fear that the game may become a new Daikatana.

In their E3 Awards for 2005, IGN gave S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s absence the award of "Biggest PC Surprise"; the runners-up were the absence of Fallout 3 from the show, and the lack of a new announcement from Blizzard Entertainment. [link]

Posted on June 13, 2006, in the 'News' section of the game's official english website, there is an announcement under the heading 'Release date confirmed' that specifies the game is officially planned to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2007.

References

External links

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