Stalker: Clear Skies expansion!

[kiwi_2005]

Well i can say Stalker is one game i did complete, loved it even tho it had some annoying bugs. Now the Clear sky expansion is on the rise...

Anyways through my Russian uber dodgy contacts from the Men in Red they manage to slip this interview with the Devs to one of my komrades who passed it on to me

Oh for MMOG fans They are seriously considering it for Stalker.

We received quite a few questions from fansites of the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and this is really great. We want to thank you for your interest in the game. In this series of answers we have decided to bend the rules a little and reply to more questions than we planned originally. First we have answered questions that have been asked several times, meaning that they are especially relevant. And so, here is the first portion of answers:

1. Will a Singleplayer SDK be released?

We really did plan to release an SDK for the singleplayer part of the game, however right now the whole team is busy with development of "Clear Sky" and cannot devote enough time to the SDK. We cannot release our tools the way they currently are, since they are meant for internal use and would be extremely complicated for other people. So, the answer is - certainly not at this time, but maybe sometime later.

2. Will there be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Online?

We do not quite understand what you mean by "online". If it is the cooperative mode, then no, there will be none. Even at the time of development of the first part of the game we said that a cooperative mode is impossible, since Life Simulation would be different at each computer. Synchronizing it would be practically not doable. If you mean an MMOG, then we are seriously considering it.

3. Will there be support for DX8, or only DX9 and DX10?

Yes, we leave support for the DX8 renderer, which will let users of weaker machines into the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The game allows sufficiently flexible configuration for the player's computer.

4. "Clear Sky" is based on the updated 1.5 engine. Should we expect additional optimization and improvement of performance, or only addition of new features? Will the new engine be added to the original game, are new editions planned?

The X-Ray Engine underwent fairly serious changes. Not only did it gain a set of new features, a higher level of detail, but has also been optimized quite a bit. Development of DX10 is currently going ahead full speed; it will give owners of newer video cards a better picture.

As for moving the original game to the new engine - it will not be done. "Shadow of Chernobyl" is a complete and finished game, which in future will only get patches, fixing discovered errors and improving multiplayer.

As for system requirements, some features of the game, such as volumetric light, are quite demanding and require a newer video card. Of course, as we said, the game is quite configurable.

5. Do such characters as Voronin, Lukash, Sakharov participate in the plot of "Clear Sky"?

It will not do anyone any good to uncover the plot of the game, so we will limit ourselves to a dry phrase: "the player will meet characters he knows."

Other notes:

What should you expect from the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? Of course, the new part of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s world history, the Zone and the characters within it. Gameplay will be closer to what we originally meant it to be. There will be proper factions, with possibility of joining them and playing for them, with live bases, with leaders, traders, barmen, repairmen, and unique buildings. NPCs will behave more like stalkers within the simulation, searching for artifacts, controlling territories, working together in the war of factions. There will be new concepts of artifacts and anomalies, where artifacts cannot be found without a detector, and anomalies are vast areas with harmful effects that cannot be entered or escaped without protection. There will be blowouts shaking the Zone, as well as much more.

In creation of graphical content for Clear Sky we try to strictly adhere to realism and utmost authenticity - that quality of visual style and atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that players have liked so much. We are making the Zone even more detailed, even more spacious. While travelling new locations of the Zone, be it abandoned villages in the vast swamp areas or a narrow street in Limansk between old houses overgrown with wild grape vine, you will again experience the feeling of immersion in the atmosphere of the Zone — wild, dangerous, melancholic, and very real!

Thank you for your attention to our project, your ideas and advice, help in fixing errors... It all helps us create an excellent game and better convey the atmosphere of the Zone. See you next year...

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. development team

Stalker Clear Sky
http://www.stalker-game.com/clearsky/

One thing i was hoping is that they add in drivable vechicles, nothing worse having to run back through zones just to drop off your items. Maybe you could steal a vehicle at the end of the zone your in to drive back to base.

[kiwi_2005]

Am i the only one whos excited about the expansion:hmm: Seriously i thought stalker players be over the moon about the expansion.

Ignore my rant on how i got it, no reds involved no russian mafia thats all fantasy How i really found out about it was from this forum i visit.

gpforums.co.nz
http://tinyurl.com/2ma333

Anyways when the expansions out i'll been getting it for sure

[CCIP]

Oh I am, I just want to sit out and see what happens.

Of course it sounds a lot closer to what the lot of us expected from Stalker originally, and I'd be glad to have it. I hope they keep the dynamic elements in focus, that's all.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Am i the only one whos excited about the expansion:hmm:

Didnt like Stalker, didnt live up nowhere near the hype and promised things, so gave it the finger and stopped playing it.

[kiwi_2005]

Well this will seem boring as hell to most but i spent weeks playing Lan against a mate in Stalkers multiplayer - probably the best maps ive come across for ages.

[GlobalExplorer]

I played maybe until the end of the first half but it got repetitive and depressing. With the improvements CS could get a very good game, personally I would say it needs more freeplay, much larger maps, and much less humans you have to kill. With the small maps and enemies around every corner it becomes more of a linear game. It simply doesnt befit the setting if every areas are a deathmatch, there should be roaming and stalking, and a lot more RPG elements, right now they had to make amends to the FPS crowd.

Lastly GSC has a real problem with project management. It is always the same pattern: Big promised followed by long silence. Then the cycle starts over with excuses and new promises.

I simply cannot believe anything they say before I hold it in my hands. Go to the link kiwi_2005 posted and read about the original Stalker - it already sounds like best AI and most dynamic gameworld of all time. Having seen the reality, why should we believe their overbounding promises about CS?

This is how GSC is marketing the original Stalker SC :

As a player you are free to explore the entire world of the Zone. No physical restrictions. No time limits. You will become a Stalker - a cross between a mercenary and treasure seeker ..

All your actions have consequences and will impact on the world around you. Not only that, this world exists whether you are there or not. Time passes, the weather is notoriously changeable, anomalies assault the landscape, players and characters interact and feed off each other ..

From that moment on it is your independent explorations and fight. The gameplay will be reactive to the way you construct it: prefer noiseless stealth operations with multi-hour ambushing? Instant assaults? Perhaps you like to explore and trade? Or maybe deep in the heart you are a warrior?
Freedom of actions is the basis for the game you can't play twice in the same way ..

So you got used to the fact the game world is static? Forget it! You are no longer a release for triggers and script scenes ..

The world lives its own life, it has a lot of events happening independently of your actions. You are to choose whether to calmly observe the happenings or become their active participant ..

What makes the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. world alive? It is the system of life simulation (otherwise known as A-Life), a groundbreaking AI system of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. which is responsible for controlling all of the game characters and events in the Zone.

Over 1000 stalkers go accomplishing their tasks, exploring the Zone, combating, taking rest, eating – they truly live in the Zone. Monsters get in packs to attack stalker camps and fight with each other. On the global level the AI controls even the wars of factions.

Creating background events? Generating an unlimited number of secondary tasks and random quests? The A-Life takes care of it all. Owing to the efficiency of our innovative A-Life system your playthrough of the game will not only be every time new, but also completely different from other players.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by GlobalExplorer

I played maybe until the end of the first half but it got repetitive and depressing. With the improvements CS could get a very good game, personally I would say it needs more freeplay, much larger maps, and much less humans you have to kill. With the small maps and enemies around every corner it becomes more of a linear game. It simply doesnt befit the setting if every areas are a deathmatch, there should be roaming and stalking, and a lot more RPG elements, right now they had to make amends to the FPS crowd.

Lastly GSC has a real problem with project management. It is always the same pattern: Big promised followed by long silence. Then the cycle starts over with excuses and new promises.

I simply cannot believe anything they say before I hold it in my hands. Go to the link kiwi_2005 posted and read about the original Stalker - it already sounds like best AI and most dynamic gameworld of all time. Having seen the reality, why should we believe their overbounding promises about CS?

This is how GSC is marketing the original Stalker SC :

As a player you are free to explore the entire world of the Zone. No physical restrictions. No time limits. You will become a Stalker - a cross between a mercenary and treasure seeker ..

All your actions have consequences and will impact on the world around you. Not only that, this world exists whether you are there or not. Time passes, the weather is notoriously changeable, anomalies assault the landscape, players and characters interact and feed off each other ..

From that moment on it is your independent explorations and fight. The gameplay will be reactive to the way you construct it: prefer noiseless stealth operations with multi-hour ambushing? Instant assaults? Perhaps you like to explore and trade? Or maybe deep in the heart you are a warrior?
Freedom of actions is the basis for the game you can't play twice in the same way ..

So you got used to the fact the game world is static? Forget it! You are no longer a release for triggers and script scenes ..

The world lives its own life, it has a lot of events happening independently of your actions. You are to choose whether to calmly observe the happenings or become their active participant ..

What makes the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. world alive? It is the system of life simulation (otherwise known as A-Life), a groundbreaking AI system of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. which is responsible for controlling all of the game characters and events in the Zone.

Over 1000 stalkers go accomplishing their tasks, exploring the Zone, combating, taking rest, eating – they truly live in the Zone. Monsters get in packs to attack stalker camps and fight with each other. On the global level the AI controls even the wars of factions.

Creating background events? Generating an unlimited number of secondary tasks and random quests? The A-Life takes care of it all. Owing to the efficiency of our innovative A-Life system your playthrough of the game will not only be every time new, but also completely different from other players.

Have to agree with what u said, Stalker was overrated still i found myself sticking through it till the finish then spent more in the multiplayer side of it. One thing that annoyed me was the guns modelling i would miss often in the singleplayer or i'did be shooting at them head on and still they be like if at times they were invincible then other times i would take out a guy with one shot? It was kinda all over the place. Some upgrades worked while some didn't change a thing - in multiplayer though this never happen with the guns it was perfect one on one kills - reason why i spent more time in multiplayer going against a mate. Never bothered to replay the sp to see the different endings - the ending i got was he wished to see the zone turn into a paradise he got his wish but became blind for it.

Still im hoping the expansion will be an improvment with more multiplayer maps.