S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

[Nihilanth]

During one of my routine website visits I passed by a TTLG forums and they have something interesting posted. Stalker-Planet.ru reports (http://stalker-planet.ru/news/2008-11-29-170) the following (translated by 242 (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124231)):


It says that the information is not official or confirmed, but a source close to GSC informed about next game in the series.

Allegedly, GSC started work on the new Stalker, currently under cover of secrecy. It will use new engine, may be even CryEngine2. Work title is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Apocalyptic. There will be many changes in the game's concept: much more locations (more than half of them will be optional) and player will be able to change the plot visiting them, player will be able to finish the game without exploring even half of the game. The game won't use separate maps, instead the areas will load dynamically. Difficulty level will affect some plot nuances.

Also, what is known:
- there won't be definitive plot-centered missions ( like FarCry2 or what? ). Player will decide what to do and how to act depending on the situation. Number of side-quests will increase.
- new enemies, anomalies,.... and "bosses".
- new factions and also foreigners.
- economics will be greatly revised: good guns or equipment will be very costly, the same goes for artifacts.
- working vehicles


Now, we all know Anton Bolshakov confirmed the next stalker to be in the future GSC plans so it's no surprise. However whether this bits of info are true or not remains unknown. It's confusing for me that these rumours speak of stalker 3, I think neither (most of the) fans nor GSC consider Clear Sky to be the true stalker 2 so yeah, it'd be the third stalker but certainly not stalker 3. Still this is a working title.

On a related note, I am aware that this may very well be nothing but a rumour but still, we're sure to get the next stalker sooner or later so...

[John]

Yeah, I was about to say...Stalker 3? Whatever happend to Stalker 2. :p Clear Sky was more like an expansion pack.

[oak man]

Damn I still need to beat the first one!

[sawn_off]

Unless they open their eyes and realize the staggering screwups they've made from a design and gameplay perspective I'm inclined to pass.

[hellchicken]

Unless they open their eyes and realize the staggering screwups they've made from a design and gameplay perspective I'm inclined to pass.

Yay for that.

I already got the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game I wanted, it's called Fallout 3, thank you very much. :)

[Lethe]

If the rumor about CryEngine 2 becomes true, I hope that they will squeeze more out of that engine than what is the case with Far Cry 2. To me, Clear Sky was much prettier game.

[Lethe]

Yay for that.

I already got the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game I wanted, it's called Fallout 3, thank you very much. :)

Except it don't have anything to do with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[Echo Black]

CryEngine2? Would be good if they finally got rid of the supremely buggy/unstable X-Ray engine. However, Stalker's look on the X-Ray engine is unique, and I don't know if it could feel the same, especially given GSC's incompetence.

(Yes, allow me to insult them, I've had terrible experiences - had to start over both Stalkers, and lost my saves twice on SHOC. When I sent customer support an email asking for a solution to a problem I had with Clear Sky's emissions locking up the game, the message I got was basically: "Reinstallformatkthx" EDIT: And it was right before Limansk, the emission you get returning to Forrester's place from the Red Forest teleport anomaly was unpassable here. Ugh. )

[jimbob]

Damn I still need to beat the first one!

me too. still waiting for that patch they promised.

[sawn_off]

I see some distinctive look in Xray but there's similar styles in other games.

Polish, testing, proper programming and all the other elementary development processes aside they just need to figure out where they're going. Some things are done like a shooter but would be better handled in the vein of an RPG, and vice versa.

[Bludd]

If the rumor about CryEngine 2 becomes true, I hope that they will squeeze more out of that engine than what is the case with Far Cry 2. To me, Clear Sky was much prettier game.

Far Cry 2 is not a CryEngine 2 game. It is based on Dunia, an upgraded version of CryEngine 1 used in Far Cry.

[Lethe]

Far Cry 2 is not a CryEngine 2 game. It is based on Dunia, an upgraded version of CryEngine 1 used in Far Cry.


Interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks, I'll read more about it.

[hanged_man]

i still havent played clear sky :( i need to upgrade my pc very soon

[John]

Interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks, I'll read more about it.

CryEngine 2 = Crysis engine.

[Lethe]

CryEngine 2 = Crysis engine.

I know that CryEngine 2 is what is Crysis using, but I also thought it is being used in FC2.

[Damien_Azreal]

Yep, as Bludd said... Dunia. :) Ubisoft damn near rewrote the whole engine code, it contains almost nothing of the original CryEngine anymore.

Similar to what 3DR has done with the UE2 for DNF. Dunia is a great engine IMO, delivers amazing visuals and huge worlds with great performance.

[Lethe]

Yeah, makes me respect them much more now when I know they developed it.

[Danule]

after trying out clear sky, im not sure im ever going to play another stalker game again.

[Damien_Azreal]

I'm going to continue to follow the STALKER series. The games have a ton or promise, great atmosphere and a wonderful setting.

It's just got some serious rough edges.

[Water12356]

Nice rumor, I just pray to the gods they do some proper de-bugging this time.

[Steve]

I just pray to the gods they do some proper de-bugging this time.

Like... Oh, I don't know, PLAY IT? :D

;)

[Mountain Man]

Except it don't have anything to do with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Eh, I know what he means: Fallout 3 is an open world action/role playing game in a post-apocalyptic setting; it's similar to STALKER but with tons more polish.

[alexgk]

A very promising series, but please GSC, polish this game before release!

[Nihilanth]

If the rumor about CryEngine 2 becomes true, I hope that they will squeeze more out of that engine than what is the case with Far Cry 2. To me, Clear Sky was much prettier game.

I consider Clear Sky to be the best looking game out there, hands down. The game that looks on par and (most liely) better (and definetely having MUCH better performance) is (will be) Rage.

As for stalker, I'm all for the next game in the series, I love it.

[Bludd]

I don't find it likely that they will ditch the Xray engine. GSC has spent years making it, and they are continuing to improve it with patches to STALKER CS. Remember, both Crysis and STALKER CS are both level-loading games. If the CryEngine 2 can be modified to create a seamless world, then the Xray engine can be modified thus too. Can the AI Life systems from Xray be jury-rigged into CryEngine 2?

[MAT]

Oh, I'm so glad they decided to drop the X-Ray Engine that was the root of all evil performance issues and horrible bugs.

I hope GSC learns how to code properly this time.

[MeatWagon]

If they were going to license a game engine I think their best bet would be Gambryo, its been used in Oblivion and Fallout 3, is reasonably stable and performs well enough and supports streaming one massive world. Not to mention its also available on PS3 and XBOX360

[Lethe]

If they were going to license a game engine I think their best bet would be Gambryo, its been used in Oblivion and Fallout 3, is reasonably stable and performs well enough and supports streaming one massive world. Not to mention its also available on PS3 and XBOX360

Gamebyro is a good engine, but it is in no possible way suitable for Stalker game. It brings totally different style and feeling.

[avatar_58]

Finish what you start. The original game is still a buggy mess and Clear Sky is full of holes. Why on earth would anyone buy a third game that will just bring more of the same?

I'd like to see a polished Stalker game but it's not coming from these guys.

[Mountain Man]

I agree with the sentiments that they need to finish the first game before they even think about releasing a third one. STALKER's rough shod design has its own charm as a one-off game, but it's no way to continue a series.

[sawn_off]

On paper it sounds good to support an independent developer, with their ambitions and what so forth. But so far the pattern they've shown shoots that down.

People put up with STALKER but all they got in return was Clear Sky, which just brought a less stable engine, a worse framerate and enemies that throw heat seeking grenades.

[Echo Black]

People put up with STALKER but all they got in return was Clear Sky, which just brought a less stable engine, a worse framerate and enemies that throw heat seeking grenades.

Haha, now that you mention this, I remember when I tried to test the AI's Robocop-like grenade accuracy by jumping from a warehouse roof onto the top of a thin pillar. I stood on it for a bit healing myself from the gunshots until surely enough I got the grenade warning and a grenade exploded right by my side. I was on top of a pillar no wider than my character's feet put together.

[MAT]

^Nice signature :) He should learn poker too, though.

[Echo Black]

It's from "Masters of Doom". ;)

[slapnutz]

The scary thing for me is that when Clear Sky was announced, I thought "oh, this is pretty much going to be SOC but polished since they have a longer deadline and most of the technical R&D was already done with SOC"

Then it came out and was worse (technically and IMO also gameplay wise).... so what does that say about Stalker 3?:confused:

[Echo Black]

The scary thing for me is that when Clear Sky was announced, I thought "oh, this is pretty much going to be SOC but polished since they have a longer deadline and most of the technical R&D was already done with SOC"

Then it came out and was worse (technically and IMO also gameplay wise).... so what does that say about Stalker 3?:confused:

Be afraid. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5rB-0ZBcI)

[SpinX]

Be afraid. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5rB-0ZBcI)

LOL!!!!

made me laugh!!!

[Lethe]

I crapped my pants ^^

[Niap!]

I'm looking forward to whatever is next for the Stalker series. I'm curious if any of the future installments will be multi platform, now that GSC is officially certified by Microsoft as an XBOX 360 developer. It would be cool for console gamers that want a different kind of shooter then whats been available to them, but I hope it doesn't mean the PC versions are going to suffer because of it.

[Daveman]

Sounds like a real sandbox, like they marketed the original very early on. Hopefully it comes to consoles and the PS3 port doesn't suck, then I could play it. I liked the original but it was too damn buggy and when I couldn't find the save files and I lost my 25 hour save file when I reformatted my hard drive, I never got back into it.

[sawn_off]

Certified, are they? Makes sense. I figure they'll make a little profit making PC games and then forget about us.

[Gryph]

After playing Clear Sky I'm not too enthused about it. I really liked the original game too.

[sawn_off]

I think this third STALKER is actually Metro 2033.

[alexgk]

Be afraid. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5rB-0ZBcI)

That... was... awesome!

[Nihilanth]

Well, it seems we're getting another add-on this Autumn, the game entitled S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. For news check Blue's News (http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=97351), ClanBase (http://clanbase.ggl.com/news.php?nid=316879) and TTLG forums (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126100). Full fledged sequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is in development as well.

[Phait]

What was the first add-on? :confused:

[Nihilanth]

I guess it isn't hard to figure out that they mean another stand-alone expansion, like Clear Sky.

[Water12356]

Hrmmm... content check, debug and actualy COMPLETE the game this time GSC? :/

[Jiminator]

i'll get whatever they come out with. franky I am a little surprised that they are able to churn out content as fast as they have. indicates they had a lot of developed stuff that did not make it into the first game.

[Nihilanth]

My guess is the point of Call of Pripyat is to add another batch of removed features, like Clear Sky did, and / or probably prototype some stuff for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. And don't worry, when they say Autumn 2009 that means we'll see it sometime in 2010. ;)

[Berntsen]

Mega Boner In My Pants: III!

Great news! Can never get enough STALKER, I just hope they spray the game with insecticide before release.

[Echo Black]

Hrmmm... content check, debug and actualy COMPLETE the game this time GSC? :/

Haha, you're funny. :D





...:(

[Damien_Azreal]

Hrmmm... content check, debug and actualy COMPLETE the game this time GSC? :/

Yeah, unlike STALKER and Clear Sky... I'm waiting on this one. I'll let it come out, get some reviews and actual feedback on how optimized and stable it is before I buy.

For me, STALKER was amazing in every way... but Clear Sky killed it.

[Nihilanth]

I must be lucky because I've been playing both SoC and CS on their first patches and aside from few crashes (that didn't exist in the latest versions) I had no problems at all. Also Clear Sky felt more "complete" that Shadow, it didn't have unfinished features and such. Of course I'm not trying to be too defensive. Yes, I am a devoted stalker fan since like early 2005 but I fully understand that some people had an abundance of gamestopping bugs and others felt that CS was not as good as SoC (lots of people and so on). I'm just saying that I'm eagerly waiting for more stalker. I'm curious what are their goals for that one since I'm almost certain they won't just put a game that brings nothing new, even if it's not a full sequel.

Also who knows what awaits for us in stalker 2...

[sawn_off]

It's not like it'd be perfect without the bugs. Think about Clear Sky's rough gameplay. They punish you for exploring with near constant emissions, and you can't sell or upgrade during them (god knows why) so you have to stand still for a few minutes watching your PDA. And the anomalies, that makes sense for artifacts but most of them just serve as a pain in the ass placed smack dab in the middle of the fastest route.

Even the shiny faction wars system screwed you. Damned Bandits rob you on sight then they ask you to help them defend their camp from the endless monsters. Clear Sky forgets about you when you leave the Swamps, but if you come back they instantly call you for help when the Renegades start an attack.

Even if you end a faction war it starts back up a minute later. The respawning enemies need to go, and shame on them for their cop-out explanation for them in the story.

[Nihilanth]

A word from the official GSC site:

Oleg Yavorsky says that Call of Pripiat will be officially announced at the KRI Conference 2009, which will happen on May 15-17. For those who have not heard of this conference before, this is the Russian analogue of GDC.

http://kriconf.ru/2009/

[Damien_Azreal]

While I really like some of the new gameplay aspects added in Clear Sky... I feel they messed with the fundamental setup so much it screwed it up.

Mostly, Clear Sky felt incredibly unfair. While I love a challenge, and I felt STALKER nailed it... CS screwed it up. Making weapon's more inaccurate and doing less damage, enemies taking far more damage and being better shots.
Harder to get better equipment, harder to get money... harder to get anything. Plus, the artifacts lost their value to me in CS.

Plus, as mentioned above, the Faction Wars system... horrible. Several times I was in good standing with the Bandits... and they would rob me. Or, I would try to pay them just enough to get through... and they would take all the money I had. Clear Sky felt even more unfinished than STALKER did. At least to me.

[Jiminator]

I thought CS was an improvement over SoC in many ways. Seemed like they were getting much closer to Stalker the way it was meant to be played. The main disappointment was at the end, the fact you could not go back, and the incredibly weak ending. They probably need to beef up the mission variety some more, add more equipment, add more "control points" and then the game would really rock. But yeah, the bandit thingy was silly. Unless you use their upgrade guy to get what you need and then become enemies. They also didn't pay barely anything for weapons, but they did pay full price for food.

[Nihilanth]

Personally I've never had problems with weapons. Been playing on Master without a crosshair and had a great time. :)

[Dave-ros]

^^^ This is why I refused to join the bandits and always shot them on sight :mad:

[MAT]

What pissed me off in CS was that the bandits would respawn every 5 minutes in a certain warehouse no matter what you do. The factions system was so broken.

[Nihilanth]

Looks like soon we'll get the first preview in Russian or Ukrainian Gameplay magazine...

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/10972.jpg

A little bit of google-translated info:


The game takes place after the end of SHOC. There not is the Clear Sky faction, was destroyed at the end of Clear Sky.

There not is the war of factions or the overpopulation of Clear Sky. The Alife shows a more peaceful life of stalkers.

No more launching grenades at our feet like Michael Jordan , even if we are cover in the wall of the sarcophagus.

Only three maps, and two underground in Pripyat. The three maps are very large, as large as 12 maps of SHOC. 1.5 x 1.5 km per map . The transition between the maps is only possible with a guide. Pripyat be several times larger than the current

Performance, better than Clear Sky. 50 fps at 1920x1200. The graphics are similar, with some minor improvements.

***

Question: If the original location was not small, what is the size of these (length x width, at least approximately)?

One and a half to one and a half kilometers. But not wastelands, but densely arranged by objects area. Again, there are similarities with the early Gothic 1-2 - there is also the patch which is much lower than in Oblivione, but exploring of it is more interesting in times because of saturation. So, I hope that will be.

[Dave-ros]

Oh, now they've spoiled the ending of Clear Sky for me, if I ever finish it :doh:

Will Pripyat now be larger than the real thing (leaving aside the fact that it's in the wrong place)?! :p

[Berntsen]

Making weapon's more inaccurate and doing less damage, enemies taking far more damage and being better shots.
Harder to get better equipment, harder to get money... harder to get anything. Plus, the artifacts lost their value to me in CS.

Plus, as mentioned above, the Faction Wars system... horrible. Several times I was in good standing with the Bandits... and they would rob me. Or, I would try to pay them just enough to get through... and they would take all the money I had. Clear Sky felt even more unfinished than STALKER did. At least to me.

What? Most of the things you listed here were probably better done in CS than in SoC. The faction wars I can agree with, but weaker weapons and increased difficulty of earning money I only saw as a positive thing. Halfway through SoC I had 300 000 RU and nothing to use it on, while in CS, I can repair / upgrade weapons and equipment (which is why most weapons are weak to begin with), and stuff is more costly than in SoC. And artifacts losing value?! How is this? It's rather the other way around - in SoC, artifacts are scattered all around, lying in the side of the road ready to be picked up, and they are worth next to nothing. In CS, there is a greater risk when trying to obtain artifacts, they're far more rare and worth a lot more.

Of course, the game also had a lot of flaws besides the faction wars as you mentioned, my main irritiation moment being the superhuman strength and accuracy human enemies had when throwing grenades...

[Jiminator]

stalker is a work in progress, frankly I like most of the changes made in CS. I think with some more tweaks to the quests and faction system it can be great. More tweaks being more unique artifacts, weapons, suits and upgrades. The only thing I didn't like about CS was the point of no return (again) and the ending. I though SoC was much stronger there with their multiple endings.

[Nihilanth]

Another preview from Igromani:

Page 1 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/gallery_2942_128_279032.jpg)
Page 2 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/gallery_2942_128_161651.jpg)

Here's the translation, thanks to Don Reba:


1. Geography

A significant part of Pripiat will be recreated with 100% accuracy. Except, this time it will be not the central, but the Eastern area — the developers want to show us the city from a new perspective. There will also be the "Jupiter" factory and the buried village Kopachi.

2. Even smarter

GSC yet again promises to get the A-life simulation system up to snuff. Although, there will no longer be faction wars — that has not worked out.

3. Plot

"Call of Pripiat is a real sequel. After Strelok destroys "C-Consciousness" in the original game (the developers ignore the alternative endings), a government expedition has set out into the Zone. However, something went wrong, and the expedition vanished without a trace. In order to investigate the causes of this catastrophe, a Ukrainian security service agent is sent. Whom we, obviously, will have to play as.

4. Quests

Quests in the previous games looked like a product of a random number generator. This time we will get about 70 optional quests made by hand. So, this time there will be no "go to the woods and kill five boars".

5. Small and hungry

"Call of Pripiat" will have two new monsters. Burer is a dwarf with telepathic abilities, which could be found even in the original game's archives, but this time implemented properly The second addition is the Chimera, familiar to the readers of Stalker books.

6. Radioactive!

Blowouts will have a larger effect on the game world. If previously they entailed only a reddened screen and death, should we not make it to a hideout, this time they will radically change positions of anomalies and artefacts.

[Water12356]

Hmmm still sounds too good to be true. But intresting none the less.

[sawn_off]

See, that sounds like they're not learning. Emissions were an annoyance in Clear Sky, unfortunately in my experiences they became so frequent it was an annoyance you dealt with every time you went to a new map. Now it moves artifacts and anomalies too? How am I supposed to travel or hunt artifacts if they move around all the time?

And I don't want the enemies to be smarter. I want my allies to be smarter. All the times I'd run to some tent on a hillside hearing "they're killing our guys where are you?!" only to find them all alive, sitting by the fire and playing guitar.

And for god's sakes code in some reinforcements. When I kill two out of thee enemies at a camp, they replace them with new ones. When there's an attack on a friendly camp, they die off one by one until we lose control and have to capture it all over again.

[Jiminator]

yeah, the blowouts needed work. a little silly that only you are affected, and the way it affected you was to run to an area and then wait and wait and wait. may be more interesting to have individuals rush to safe areas, and if they are enemies to do shootouts, type of stuff like that.

[Damien_Azreal]

But... the most important bit of information of all... how stable will the game be? For once, I would love for them to actually finish the game and then release it.

[Montykoro!]

I can't wait...buggy... unestable...untested...unbalanced... but...the setting... the history and the "freedom" (no pun intented) are the best...

[Nihilanth]

2. Even smarter

GSC yet again promises to get the A-life simulation system up to snuff. Although, there will no longer be faction wars — that has not worked out.

Here's another translation of that part:


2. There will be noticeable improvements in A-Life system: for example, day/night behavior cycle, artefact searching, blowouts with proper NPC reactions and hideouts and a lot more. By the way, there won't be a faction wars - the idea wasn't successful. NPC behaviour will be more "peaceful" (but, well, of course if a Duty stalker will meet Freedom stalker - he know what to do, so it doesn't meet armistice between everyone). Of course, the overall number of stalkers in the Zone will be lesser than it's been in CS.

[Jiminator]

well, i like that they are trying different things and discarding things that don't work. too many companies do something and then keep trying to "fix" it with successive releases, instead of realizing there are better things they can improve.

[Nihilanth]

More stuff will be available soon. Here's the Gameplay preview: Page 1 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/5457b878169a.jpg), Page 2 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/66ed58447a81.jpg), Page 3 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/92096315.jpg). BAC9-FLCL, moderator of the official GSC forums is currently translating it. Also the word is tommorow we'll get full scans of Igromania Lite preview.

[Nihilanth]

Ok guys, lots of info here from the preview. The full translation is not ready yet but Lijenstina and Kane4 on the official forums mentioned some important points:



(...) here says that the ending won't be linear like before and that you can choose the main missions in order according to your wishes.

No helicopter bosses for now

Pripyat is now on the North- West of CNPP (instead of South)

Blowouts spawn artifacts and anomalies change positions

Automatic Shotgun

Before a blowout there is a radio warning and on the map all the safe places are highlighted and stalkers in the area will go there (not all are friendly so some fighting to reach it or to keep them out could occur) [Jiminators dream may come true :) - Nihilanth]

Stalkers will go artifact hunting alone or in groups and in the evening will come back to the camp- some of them with a loot and some of them empty handed ( no more generic 5000 RU vodka or sausages ) If you meet them before they sell their stuff to the trader you could find different trophies in their backpack [Holy shit, if that's true... wow :eek: - Nihilanth]

Monsters will be more active from dusk and during night

Boosters will be available for a temporary boost in statistics

Locations will be all 1/3 larger than Swamps

New monsters with very distinct and unique abilities:

Chimera: swift and deadly leaps while staying unnoticed and stealthed

Burer: disarming characters, telekinesis and creating protective shield barriers. [disarming sounds neat - Nihilanth]

Bloodsucker: will become invisible only at a certain distance and will be vulnerable at all times.

Pripyat and NPP will correstpond to their real whereabouts and exploring them will not be limited or corridorish like in CS. Player will have full freedom to explore the territory without any limits [Finally :) - Nihilanth]

In the story after military's failed attempt to make a safe path to the center, our agent will try make the path by himself and try to track down the 5 crashed helicopters while learning about their fates and stories. Only a handful of Duty and Freedom divisions have survived. They are now more friendly and cooperative with each other. Both now share their divided territories. Duty will sell MG's and rifles, Freedom will sell sniper and ecologist equipment while bandits will sell "bad guns." The Player will try to gain reputation for the factions to gain greater access to their equipment. He won't be able to join any of them though.

The game will revive the old SoC atmosphere, artifact hunting with detectors and weapon upgrades will remain but faction wars won't. Finally sleeping will be introduced in this game! Player will sleep at camps and bases in beds. [here's something for Damien_Azreal :) and some people will definetely be happy with sleeping feature - Nihilanth]

The 70 handmade quests will take place on 3 levels. The last bunch will take place on the final level only.

NPC's will have different loot corresponding to their locations. It will be more diverse than money and food. NPC's will have their daily routines. In the morning they'll go artifact hunting, in the evening they'll return home. Monsters though will show greatest activity at night and at dawn.

[Micki!]

Sounds cool as it always does when they describe thier games...
But i can't help but having low expectactions to this, thier fall-dead promises have saddened me earlier, this time i won't blindly buy the game just because it sounded really neat in some previews and descriptions...

I really HOPE they make it well done though, this does truly sound better than any of the other two Stalker games...

[Niap!]

Sounds like they are adding a bunch of features from Oblivion Lost. Sleeping is a welcome addition, blowouts changing anomalies and artifacts is cool too, adds to the exploration aspects of the game. Bigger areas to explore.. sounds good so far :)

[Jiminator]

yummy! sounds pretty awesome. my complaint about the blowouts is that it ruins immersion in a game if you have to do certain things but nobody else does. anyway i'll be picking this up when it comes out. :)

[Water12356]

Not letting my guard down yet but those features sound great. There should be sleeping bag however! What if you need sleep and your a good "10 miles" from the nearest base? :p

[Nihilanth]

Thanks to BAC9-FLCL for the translation!


Call of Pripyat
exclusive preview from Gameplay magazine (5.2009)

The plot is starting few days after SoC final events - Gunslinger is turning the psy-antennas off, but too, being out of it for few days. In the meantime, all the stalker realized the possibilities and perspectives of the pass opening, rush there. Of course, the way is too thin for all the people, so factional conflicts raise again and all the place began to fill with corpses.

Unexpectedly, the military forces become more active too. News about the psy-emission source liquidation reach military headquarters, and so, the development of "Fairway" operation started. The whole point of it is search for the safe way deep into the Zone for sending heavy-armed troops there and establish full control over the place. But something goes terribly wrong, and all the helicopters sent for reconnaissance vanish.

As said in the old wisdom, probably the one scout can make it where the big group failed. So the HQ send one operative to the place to inquire about facts of the case, while being undercover as a stalker. But, well - why "undercover"? He's actually a stalker, just having an eye on Ministry of Defense pays, so - on the military side. His name is Alexander Degtyarev, and he will be the protagonist.

Our main task will be to find and investigate what happened to those five helicopters. You'll find some info while searching for each of them, and of course in result we'll reveal the inconceivable Mystery. But, of course, the developers won't say anything about it before the release

Alex arrived at the place a bit late - stalkers already settled there, opened the small Bar in the old rusty ship, used some houses around, revealed the nearest anomalies etc.

Only two small groups of Duty and Freedom reached the Backwater, so they concluded a temporal truce and organized a base in the old suiting building. It is divided in two parts - for each faction. Everyone agreed that this will be neutral territory where no one will shoot.

Of course, bandits appeared there too, searching for easy money. One of them, Sultan, smart bastard, started a mess trying to gain control all over the place. But he's not going to kill anyone in sight, so it's possible to work for him.

So, we have 3 factions available for interaction, working etc. It won't be possible to join one of them (because it'll ruin the possibility of visiting lots of places and bring way too much shooting against the aggressive faction stalkers into the game. But you can change the force balance, do various tasks, help faction you sympathize to dominate.

Of course, there won't be any infinite wars for control points! Everything is a lot more interesting. For example: the scientist camp lose mercenary guarding. You can give them an advice like "I know some guys from Freedom, they'll help you, no problem". For faction it'll be the new earning source, and you - will receive respect from faction members, good equipment etc. you need.

Duty members usually prefer the heavy armor assault rifles and machineguns, Freedom - to sniper weapons and light, but protected against the Zone dangers equipment, suiting for those who like to explore the Zone. Developers didn't revealed anything about bandits propensity, but we think it'll be shotguns. And, of course, all the dark side adepts will choose that faction

Weapon assortment will grow a bit. By the way, developers decided to give more attention on smooth-bore weapons, so, for example, you can find and use automatic barreled-magazine shotgun (model prototype is DOA-12). Whole weapon balance will be reworked for higher damage and a lot longer distances.

For players not to suffer while choosing between sniper rifle and machinegun, devs made both two weapon slots universal - for now you can put anything you want into them. Of course, if you want to be armed while using the detector, you'll need one-handed weapon like pistol, but their role on the late stages of the game will probably decrease - everyone will prefer more powerful weapon

Suits will be divided into torso part and helmet part, both with separate stats. There will be 4 quick-use slots for items like bandages, medkits, antirads etc. Also, the new medical item class will appear - boosters. These are the preparations allowing the user to temporary raise some organism functions - for example, some of them will allow to sprint longer, some will speed up the blood coagulability, and so on.

Blowout can happed anytime, so you'd better keep in mind the ways to closest hideouts. You'll have about a minute to hide, and, which is most interesting, the hideout can be already taken by aggressive stalkers. Of, for example, you could the the members of Duty and Freedom in gunfight for the hideout. It's possible to help one of the sides, or just wait and collect the loot later.

Stalkers will act with the correct day/night behavior cycle - at night they're mostly sleeping, in the morning they wake up, prepare the equipment and leave the camp to search for artifacts - individually or as groups. As evening comes, they'll start to return to the camp with loot (or without it). Developers are going to rework the behavior and trade system, so you won't see the 5000 rubles and vodka in the backpacks of stalkers - they'll carry what they actually bought or collected. It allows some interesting schemes for dark side adepts - for example, you can wait for stalker to collect the artifacts and kill him returning to the camp to get your hands over the loot

Monsters will raise their activity at night. By the way, yes - there will be burer and chimera. Those models were already been in SoC recourses, but wasn't used in game due to various reasons. Developers said that they wanted unique enemies, so another dog-like close combat mutant is not needed. So, in sequel, they gave burer and chimera unique abilities and behavior. Chimera will use swift and deadly leaps from the dark while staying unnoticed and stealthed, try to avoid player to see it before the attack. Burer will widely use his telekinetic abilities - for example, for disarming characters. Or at least to make concrete block fall on your head

The stats balance for other monsters will be reworked. For example, bloodsucker will be a bit weaker, but more dangerous, his invisibility won't make him immortal, he will act slightly different.

The attention to details in Call of Pripyat is really surprising. For example, after the blowout anomalies will change their position and the artifacts will appear in completely different places, making almost impossible to memorize the safe route and run without detector like in Shadow of Chernobyl. By the way, it'll be possible to sleep! You won't be able to sleep under the bush within the bag, but on every base you'll find the suiting places to sleep at night. Much better than waiting for the morning in SoC while having time for a tea. Ten cups of tea. Or even more.

But, well, maybe you won't want to sleep at night. There are a lot tactical possibilities and, also - many quests are available only at night

There will be about 70 new unique quests. Small corridor-like locations are in past - prepare to explore three giantic territories:

- Darkwater - marshy territory, heavy affected with anomalies and densely built with various agricultural structures.

- "Jupiter" - industrial territory around and in the huge abandoned factory (by the way, the "Jupiter exists in the real Desolation Zone | translator note).

- Pripyat - 100% precise recreation of east Pripyat part, with central post office, school and other famous places. By the way, the city will be properly placed on the global map - north-west from NPP, not south, as in the previous games. The most important is that this level won't be corridor-like as Limansk in CS or Pripyat in SoC - no, it'll be huge territory with lots of various quests and non-linear exploring possibilities.

To say straight, Call of Pripyat looks like the wise and massive work on mistakes done in previous games. There won't be helicopter bosses, infinite faction wars and other elements that are theoretically interesting, but doesn't fit to S.T.A.L.K.E.R at all. Well-turned features like new detection system or weapon upgrading will be there too, but in overall look the Call of Pripyat is closer to the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R concept with dangerous, desolated and silent Zone where stalkers are rare and gloomy loners, where's no place for huge groups and tons of gunfights. We really hope that the developers will follow this line, because this time they've chosen really proper vector.

We're looking forward for the meeting with the dark and cloudy world of eternal autumn where it's not possible to live, but... where you still want to return. Again and again.

[Montykoro!]

1 please :)

[slapnutz]

Performance, better than Clear Sky. 50 fps at 1920x1200. The graphics are similar, with some minor improvements.[/COLOR]

Do they give any idea of what hardware they based this around?
Do they give any idea of what graphics settings also, they based this around?
:confused:

[Nihilanth]

I posted everything I could find, so no.

[Jiminator]

just a note, thanks nihilanth for the updates, much appreciated.

[Nacho]

I find it funny how they continue to release game after game of buggy craziness however with every game they add and try new things adding to the world.

One of the few developers I don't actually mind doing this simply because what they do pull off is always so memorable.

[Nihilanth]

just a note, thanks nihilanth for the updates, much appreciated.

You're welcome. :)

Here's another bit of info from GSC forum moderator BAC9-FLCL, coming from the journalist who worked on Gameplays preview. I assume it's about side quests:


Almost every quest is separate unique story. For example, one stalker asked for help with his case: he tried to leave the place on his car (old Zaporozhets), but rushed into anomaly on the road nearby. Car fell into a crack.

He gives us a simple task - to take valuable items from the car's trunk. Sounds quite easy. We go there, jump down, take items stalker requested and... suddenly realize that there's no way to get out above.

After exploring the crack, we find the burrow in one of the walls, probably did by some mutants. We look there and see their lair. There's a light from the exit, but the way to it lies through the cave full of dangerous creatures. So, what to do? Try to ran through the cave, take out your weapon or... wait for night for mutants to leave for hunting?

[Jiminator]

Some of the stuff I most liked from SoC was the stash quests. Not that they were really quests, but mainly places that were hard to figure out how to get to. Like in wild territory. It is stuff like that that makes stalker a game that can be played in multiple ways and gives it a lot of replay value.

[Niap!]

my complaint about the blowouts is that it ruins immersion in a game if you have to do certain things but nobody else does.

That was one of the weak points in CS. After playing the hell out of Oblivion Lost for SoC which had npc's running for shelter the same as you, more mutants would appear and the anomalies and artifacts changed after the blowout keeping things interesting. CS blowouts are a pretty big step back from that, good to hear those features are in the next one. :)

Some of the stuff I most liked from SoC was the stash quests. Not that they were really quests, but mainly places that were hard to figure out how to get to. Like in wild territory. It is stuff like that that makes stalker a game that can be played in multiple ways and gives it a lot of replay value.

I've been stash hunting a lot in CS lately, every single npc that sells stash info has made money from me so far :D. CS added a bit more replay value with the "how can I help you?" style quests. I've been having fun lately switching between stash looting, helping a ton of stalkers from the different factions and artifact hunting.. :love:

[Nihilanth]

Although I think it's a good idea to have better, more focused side quests, I have to say that I liked the random quests in previous games. Maybe they felt a bit off, but at least were fully dynamic. I mean, even if a character you needed to kill had been killed by somebody else... that's pretty unique, I mean, he didn't die just like that, someone or something took him out. That's really cool in my opinion. The guests that come out of what's happening with other characters. I hope they keep them too. Other than that, I can't freaking wait. :)

[dark_angel]

Any expected Release date ?

[Nihilanth]

Autumn 2009. Read sometime in 2010. :)

[Damien_Azreal]

Yeah, they have said late 2009... but with GSC.... expect delays, so sometime mid 2010 probably. :p

[Kristian Joensen]

It has been officially announced. (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58426)

[SpinX]

let us hope for the best... again...

[Nihilanth]

Great! I have just finished a long session with SoC... and suddenly became so impatient. :)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/313/logocopru.gif

Key game features:

* Photorealistic exclusion Zone – Pripyat town, Yanov railway station, Jupiter factory, Kopachi village and more, recreated by their true-to-life prototypes.
* New story, a number of unique characters.
* Extended system of side quests.
* New monsters: Chimera and Burer. New behaviour and abilities for all monsters.
* New A-Life system, created using the players' best-liked elements of the first two games in series.
* Emissions considerably influence the world of the Zone.
* Sleep function added into the game.
* New player’s interface.
* Possibility to continue the game after completion in a freeplay mode.
* The game is developed on X-Ray engine v.1.6

[Nihilanth]

Sad times. But some new scans, no translation so far:

01 (http://smages.com/i/76/47/76477a8c26557ddbd2178af099d749c4.jpg)
02 (http://smages.com/i/c4/60/c4609e5d98f422d100859b4a0672e6d8.jpg)
03 (http://smages.com/i/70/ff/70ff02bfcec5dd24cc64dc1e9f0e1f06.jpg)
04 (http://smages.com/i/b2/c6/b2c648547bcfd79cdee1d9d7359f5a04.jpg)
05 (http://smages.com/i/e3/13/e3130acfe010a00ceb96007921694dc6.jpg)
06 (http://smages.com/i/22/21/222111aec8bfff257c725cdc456d0790.jpg)
07 (http://smages.com/i/0a/3c/0a3c790c137e47a363004b4f28e96f74.jpg)

Notable thing on number 3, 5 and 7: a neutral stalker holding a detector! Seems like stalkers will dynamically look for artifacts and use detectors after all. :o On number 3 and 5 note the rather extraordinary level design (desert-like?) and check new Boar model on 4.

By the way, GSC confirmed that they'll be showing Call of Pripyat on May 15-17 at KRI 2009.

[Jiminator]

hrm, 6 and 7 are the same. but thanks for sharing. great stuff. I am happy for GSC since they were able to complete their project and now are looking to release new versions yearly (or semi-yearly if this is delayed). That is a company supporting its customers and I will do my part to support the company.

[Nihilanth]

Sorry, fixed it.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------

Sorry for double-post but I just came across another scans and even more info, from Gameworld Navigator. Thanks to BAC9-FLCL for translation.


- The game follows the "true" ending line where Gunslinger destroyed C-Consciousness. But, all the stuff with the grass, birds and green leaves... wasn't meant to be Zone disappearing. Only Gunslinger saw that and this is a mystery what truly happened to him.

- There will be less stalkers than in CS and even SoC, GSC want to show that they're guests in aggressive environment, not rulers of the place.

- Monsters AI will be reworked to make their behavior more interesting and well-looking, especially in combat (for example, a dog won't stand in one place and repeatedly play bite animation, it'll move and attack smart). By the way, the mutant are not the united aggressive pack of creatures thinking only about killing as many stalkers as possible. There will be carnivores and herbivores, various conflicts etc.

- The factions won't be so black-and-white like in CS, with the same members, sharp borders etc. They're just a groups of people with the similar principles, not aggressive freaks looking for opposite faction members. Their leaders are smart and calm men who can solve the problems with words, not bullets.

- Developers agree that the main fail points of CS were bugs, weak storyline and faction war. They are going to additionally hire some specialized companies to do very accurate testing together. They wrote the new storyline a lot more accurate, consulting with writers etc. The amount of action will be reduced a lot to help atmosphere of loneliness, desolation and concealed danger.

- There will be the freeplay mode after the game ending - for fans who want to completely solve all the quests, explore the territory and find all the secrets.

- Confirmed again: there won't be any of the old locations.
- Confirmed again (!): yes, there will be about 70 unique quests.

- There won't be any significant changes in multiplayer, because developers decided to fully concentrate on singleplayer.

01 (http://www.gameru.net/forum/uploads/1240541536/gallery_7808_142_317040.jpg)
02 (http://www.gameru.net/forum/uploads/1240541536/gallery_7808_142_44896.jpg)
03 (http://www.gameru.net/forum/uploads/1240541536/gallery_7808_142_338875.jpg)
04 (http://www.gameru.net/forum/uploads/1240541536/gallery_7808_142_284689.jpg)

[Nihilanth]

The official Call of Pripyat site (http://cop.stalker-game.com/) launched today. So far we have few new details. We've got the first look at the apparently new, improved (and more colorful) Bloodsucker (http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=bloodsucker) as well as some pretty interesting stats of items. For instance Medkit has Recovering health: +5 in 5 sec, Antirads have Removing radiation: +5 in 15 sec suggesting a little different approach to effects of those items, namely that they last for a few seconds, having a certain effect instead of just working immidietely.

UPDATE: Just came across 12 photos of the game showing new map, interface, hotkeys and inventory. Yummy! :love:

01 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/ac2e1e567f72.jpg)
02 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/c6b37c75dc87.jpg)
03 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/f6a0a8321e37.jpg)
04 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/2179ddae5326.jpg)
05 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/384ca282ac1b.jpg)
06 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/eb9e2448b154.jpg)
07 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/be8892a22d9a.jpg)
08 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/67d1c39a21c2.jpg)
09 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/4b842fc0dc29.jpg)
10 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/5ede7f1a573e.jpg)
11 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/8cecfb40c268.jpg)
12 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/9d6eeb7c34b3.jpg)

EDIT 2: All the above shots come from the Ukrainian event taking place now, where CoP is being presented. Check this site (http://stalker-zone.info/photo/21) for 8 more shots, possibly more to come.

[Llama Gibbz]

Looks awesome.

[Jiminator]

what would be cool would be if they could integrate a fallout 3 style world into the game. well, I guess that would not really work as most of the structures are fairly unique, but an interesting concept.

[Thief]

Awesome stuff. I'm liking the idea of them binding the more important items to the F1-F4keys, but it looks like they've gotten rid of the geiger counter...I liked how it was handled in Clear Sky.
Looks like they've changed the look of the Military...I like, I like.

A little spelling boo-boo in the description of the Burner anomaly. :D

[Nihilanth]

Few things to note:

* At the least the map shown at the presentation (Blackwater?) looks very open-ended in the Swamps style. But remember though that Swamps were covered by Faction War. These levels will have a SoC like, peaceful exploration.

* Two new warning icons are present, one surely indicates being overburdened. I'm not sure about the other one but it may indicate lack of armor.

* The now-round compass has two indicators, green and blue. Green has what appears to be a symbol of an eye and blue has waves. It may mean return of the visibility / sound indicators. If that's the case, I hope AI reactions are appropriate this time (stealth, damn it).

* Time is now displayed in HUD (near compass).

* As reported earlier, there are four F1-F4 hotkeys where you can bound items like Medkits, Antirads, Bandages or food.

* The lower right portion of the HUD is completely redesigned. Instead of Armor / Health we now have Health / Stamina, at least that's what I think. The main section cantaining ammo counter is divided into three sub-counters: main one (ammo in a gun) and two smallers, my guess is that they reflect how many bullets you have left in both ammo types. The last things are two symbols to the left: top with a grenade symbol (possibly amount of grenades for weapon grenade launcher) and lower with bullets (judging by "A", I think that's shooting mode, automatic, etc).

* There are several improvements to inventory. When we hold cursor over a weapon not only now we see (among other stats) its clip capacity but also it visually represents ammo types for the weapon and, if available, highlights them in the inventory.

* Each weapon and piece of armor in the inventory has some kind of a status bar, possibly reflecting its condition, which means no more rolling over every weapon to see in what condition it is.

* The character screen is much like the one in CS. As promised, now both weapon slots are universal which means we can have two big guns under 1 and 2 instead of a pistol + bigger weapon. I think devs realized that nobody uses pistols later in a game.

* Again, as reported, there's a new class of armor piece, helmet or a mask to be exact. Who knows what that means exactly, maybe some new, cool bonuses side from bullet proof or something.

* Under character screen there are:

- four slots for hotkeys
- 5 slots for artifacts (I'm pretty sure about that)
- an unidentified red bar with two slots to the right (no idea)
- a set of 8 bars that appear to be resistances: radiation, chemical (?), electrical, burn (?), telephaty, rupture, bulletproof. The final bar has a running man. No idea what that means.

* Not a big deal but it appears that Medkits and vodka now occupy only one slot.

* There's a strange map in one of the shots. It may be a map of underground or different version of the main map, I don't know.

* PDA is a bit different but it's in Russian so I've no idea what's written there.

[alexgk]

Looks promising :)

[MeatWagon]

Looks good so far. I like the sound of it being more desolate.

[Nihilanth]

More loot, stalkers!

Main Menu (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/photo-zp-18.jpg)
Options (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/photo-zp-19-1.jpg)

Video from KRI 2009 (210mb) (http://static.ogl.ru/video/00/00/42/40/stalker_kri_2009_gameplay.avi)
Streaming version (http://www.gameru.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=24490&pid=762820&st=0&#entry762820)

Don't get too excited, though. It's a shaky-cam, Russian-only vid. By the way, yeah, it seems that the two (green & blue) indicators near the compass are for visibility and noise. Also it looks pretty cool in action that when you move a cursor over a weapon it automatically highlights ammo that fits into it and vice versa.

[Niap!]

Looking good :)

I can't wait to explore the bigger maps..

[Jiminator]

hopefully we see it this fall, or sooner... :)

[Water12356]

There is too much bloom on the menu. :p

[Nihilanth]

More shots from KRI.

01 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/e6b2a94fa3c85f12831fa45abb2c0c6c-1.jpg)
02 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/71f64ec919de58d6669163fcd061baf8-1.jpg)
03 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/aacae0662e2fa15e12423afbc4331d75-1.jpg)
04 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/e1bda7e0d56486aa04c82c5b0623ca49-1.jpg)
05 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/fcea663a00248f6bd69b0495c0a92652-1.jpg)
06 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/b22f09addcc3ada064b32be8e499df38-1.jpg)

Last shot shows new upgrade menu.

By the way, when I first heard that there's not gonna be any old maps I was a little bit let down. You know, I thought that I'm gonna miss them after two games... But now I actually think that it's great. First, it's gonna be completely fresh experience. Second, I'd imagine that by only using new maps GSC will be able to make gameplay better because they'll not be limited by restrictions of the older maps. Can't wait to explore them.

There is too much bloom on the menu. :p

:p

hopefully we see it this fall, or sooner... :)

Ask me, now way it's gonna be released this year. :) But after two stalker games I know I'm gonna love it so it's not a problem for me.

[Nihilanth]

Some more scavanged goods from the Zone:

01 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/gallery_1439_150_517386.jpg)
02 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/gallery_1439_150_1021633.jpg)
03 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/gallery_1439_150_329301.jpg)
04 - PC that run the game on KRI (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/gallery_1439_150_624005.jpg)
05 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/G5sQRrb0Nc.jpg)
06 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/SKFnUHlx1I.jpg)
07 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/S98KLVFSc7-1.jpg)
08 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/VHgQ4dFXRi.jpg)
09 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/YuTZGde8b7.jpg)
10 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/avvNRQO5if.jpg)
11 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/lL1MsAcNSW.jpg)
12 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/jonelo/stalker/tJemU4FCpF.jpg)

Stalkers stand on KRI:

01 (http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/9020/11292402.jpg)
02 (http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/9314/67866034.jpg)
03 (http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/5950/79026778.jpg)

Game World Navigator's interview with Oleg Yavorsky on KRI (contains some gameplay footage):
Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxqVA11rZU0&fmt=18)

Transcription (thanks to Don Reba):

Speaking about gameplay in general, we expect it to take about seven hours to pass the main storyline and, maybe, twenty-twenty-five hours for free gameplay. In addition, I can tell you that after the game ends, there will be the possibility of remaining there. Not end the game, but continue in free-play mode.

There will be a minimum of underground locations. That is, you will mainly run around over the motherland. There will be a kind of caves, some underground mini-levels, but it will make up, maybe, five percent.

Anomaly locations will change somewhat after blowouts. Also, artifacts will regenerate, since our good NPCs will go around in squads and collect them. That is, the player will compete with stalkers in who collects more artifacts. We changed all the monsters a bit. That is, we tried to make combat against them more interesting than it was previously. All monsters will become more mobile, more diverse in their behaviour, their habits. For instance, chimera, fairly harmless during the day, will become quite challenging to fight at night, when all monsters activate. Therefore, every monster has to be seen, understood, studied to find an effective measure against.

The main difference of quests in Call of Pripyat will be in that they no longer regenerate automatically, as they have been previously. They are crafted by designers in advance. This makes each scene unique, makes it more presentable and interesting for the player. For instance, there could be a quest to... [you will find out what kind of quest there could be in the June issue of "Game World Navigator"]

[smithy1185]

I loved SOC but never got around to buying CS. I did hear some pretty bad horror stories about bugs for both games but I didn't have any major problems in SOC.

I don't agree but I know several people mention what someone else did on the first page that Fallout 3 felt like what they had hoped Stalker to be.

[Jiminator]

the stalker world IMO is more interesting than fallout. both have their strong points, but for fallout there are only about one or two dozen templates and then everything bult in the world is based on those templates. That gives the world more areas but there is a sameness to everything, to all the bandit encounters and so on. For stalker all of the big buildings and houses are unique, lots of things to explore, lots of scenery, most of it based on real locations. Lots of minigames within the big game (ie: finding stashes, artifacts, missions, etc). Hopefully the next installment will give it even greater replay value.

[Damien_Azreal]

I love the first STALKER, absolutely amazing game. :D But Clear Sky they tried to "fix" to much and really fumbled it IMO. It's still good, but much rougher around the edges.

I hope they clean up those issues with S:CoP.

[Zombie_Boy]

No mercenary faction? :/

Well, technically you are a mercenary.. but having a Merc faction would create tons of quest opportunities due to the nature of the business.

Oh and a mule too. Cause I like to pick up every single damn item i see and lug it all back to the traders.

Shoulda seem me in CS. Kill a bunch of merc's, bandits, military freedom/duty/stalker then pile it up into a nice huge pile! Then run all the way back to CS base and sell it all. Rinse and repeat and 100'000s of RU's later I'm walking in a nicely tricked out exo.

Which is another thing.. I hope they come out with Exo's that can run! Bulat's dont seem as cool as exo's..

[Thief]

Man, I stayed away from the Exo suit. Only two artifact slots, and not upgradeable...no thanks. I stayed with the SEVA suit the whole way...actually got it pretty early too.

**** I can't wait for CoP...Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky were so memorable.

[sawn_off]

Funny side story. Turns out the VSS sniper rifle from the old magazine cover was a stolen CSS skin. Creators were more honored than angry, fortunately.

Oh, those GSC guys.

[Nihilanth]

Call of Pripyat gets a publisher:


bitComposer Games secures worldwide rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

– The new episode of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. follows up on the story of the internationally renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. –

Eschborn/Frankfurt, Germany, August 19 2009: bitComposer Games has secured the worldwide rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, the next first-person shooter from Ukrainian developer GSC Game World and follow-up to the highly successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. The internationally successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has sold over 2 million copies, and the newest episode seamlessly connects to Shadow of Chernobyl. The release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat for Windows PC is scheduled for Fall 2009.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat takes PC gamers once again into the deadly area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion of 1986. Cordoned off by the military, this highly contaminated “Zone” is scoured by treasure hunters known as s.t.a.l.k.e.r.s, who search the irradiated lands for unique artifacts. In the role of Agent Alexander Degtyarev, the player must go undercover as a s.t.a.l.k.e.r., investigating the mysterious disappearance of five military helicopters while standing against various s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups.

Using the time-tested X-Ray graphic engine developed by GSC, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat skilfully combines first-person shooter action with role-playing elements in a realistic post-atomic world. The grim realities of this deadly environment are underscored by the many desolate industrial ruins, reproduced using aerial pictures and the developers’ own photographs. Mutants, s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups, and lethal anomalies are everywhere, posing a constant threat to the player. The thrilling story is advanced through numerous quests, taking gamers through such diverse areas as a secret military base, the Jupiter factory site, and the titular city of Pripyat. The player decides how far to explore and which tasks they undertake – freedom determines the gameplay. Other s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups respond to the player in a friendly or hostile manner, depending on the group to which they belong. In this ever-dangerous world, the player is supported by various weapon systems and upgrades, as well as several types of equipment.

“With S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, we have another high-profile title in our portfolio,” says Wolfgang Duhr, director of bitComposer Games. “The fact that we could assert ourselves against internationally established publishers shows the trust placed in us by GSC. Together with GSC and our distribution partners, we want to continue the success of the series so that we can build on this foundation in the future.”

“We're anticipating a very successful international release for Call of Pripyat and are happy to work with bitComposer Games to bring this next chapter of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to PC gamers around the world,” says Sergiy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC Game World.


There are conflicting reports about the release date from these guys. Trailer says November, site says October.

[Nihilanth]

Awesome, 5min atmosphere trailer (http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=video#cop_video1).

[Kristian Joensen]

" bitComposer Games has secured the worldwide rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat"

Interesting, the third game in the series marks the third publisher. I am sure there are some benefits for GSC to do things this way. For one it ensures that none of their publishing partners will become lazy since they expect to be picked again automatically for the next game.

[Thief]

Can't help but wonder if a 3rd persion view will be an option this time around...
Fall 2009 (hopefully)!!

[Hudson]

3rd person? God, I couldn't even imagine how horrible that would be. I mean, just look at Fallout 3 :o

[Echo Black]

Funny side story. Turns out the VSS sniper rifle from the old magazine cover was a stolen CSS skin. Creators were more honored than angry, fortunately.

Oh, those GSC guys.

Sometimes it amazes me how ghetto GSC is. :dopefish:

[Nihilanth]

New official video for CoP (http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=video#cop_video2)

CoP to support dx11 (http://blogs.amd.com/play/2009/09/09/directx-11-%E2%80%93-what-to-expect/#37;E2%80%93-what-to-expect/)

[Thief]

Dunno about that video...too much lightning flashes for starters, and the creature at the end just doesn't fit the STALKER universe...it's almost ghoulish. That being said, I'm still very much looking forward to CoP...just hope my system will be able to run it as well as Clear Sky, or pretty close.

[Bludd]

Gimme more STALKER. Just gimme.

[Jiminator]

uh, the creature at the end of SoC - is actually in the original stalker. He is activated in some mods, namely the Run and Gun mod. Believe me, he is absolutely brutal to kill, and he can also use that shield like a fireball, in addition to melting your brain. :)

[Nihilanth]

Dunno about that video...too much lightning flashes for starters, and the creature at the end just doesn't fit the STALKER universe...it's almost ghoulish. That being said, I'm still very much looking forward to CoP...just hope my system will be able to run it as well as Clear Sky, or pretty close.

That's Burer, one of the mutants cut from the original game. GSC is keeping support for all previous renders (now they will have dx8, dx9, dx10 and dx11), so only full details requirements will increase. It's also said to be optimized much better than CS.

[Thief]

So the apparent release date is October 2nd.

http://petrovka.ua/news.php?id=196

[Nihilanth]

Heard it a couple of times but currently it's not officially confirmed.

[Nihilanth]

So it seems it's official. Call of Pripyat went gold. :)


The company GSC Game World is glad to announce to all fans of the universe "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." that the game "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat went to print!

Quite soon, within the first half of October 2009, the game will appear on store shelves and you will have the opportunity to once again plunge into the mysterious and dangerous world of the Zone. Mutants, lethal anomalies, priceless artifacts, puzzles, unexplored territory, enemies, comrades in arms, dangerous battles and exciting jobs are waiting for you!

Thanks to joewillburn for translation.

Source is the official Russian CoP site (http://cop.stalker-game.ru/).

[Chimera]

Brilliant news!

I'd completely forgotten about the new stalker, this was a nice surprise :)

[Hudson]

Sweet!

[Nihilanth]

Also it seems that GSC is really improving in a lot of ways. SoC was being delayed for years and years. CS was only about half a year late compared to the first revealed release period. And now CoP suffers no delay at all, awesome. :)

[Thief]

Excellent news! Hope it's priced decently. Can't wait!

[Jokke_r]

To be honest i liked SoC a lot when it came out, but for some reason i just could not be bothered with clear sky. The stories have always been shit, the anomalies are just not good gameplay but since it's part of the lore they cant just do away with them.

What i like about the games are the enviroments, the items/inventory, the weapons, the exploration. What i generally don't like is the enemies, stories, anomalies. The game should have lots more RPG elements imo. More choice, more dialogue, hell even XP and leveling would fit great. More weapon upgrades and customization.

[Thief]

Man, I thought the best part of Clear Sky was the way they modified artifact hunting. It was a mini-game in itself and made the journey that much more exciting. Especially in the later levels (Yantar, Red Forest) I remember myself taking a deep breath before I tackled the heavy anomaly areas with hopes of stumbling on an artifact I've yet to come across. They literally made you traverse a battlefield of anomalies at times...burners, cyclones, shock fields, acid swamps, and finally that crackle-ish sound when you unearthed the treasure. Loved it! Chucking screws all day long, haha...I hope they don't change a thing when it comes to artifact hunting.

A shame your feelings are pretty much the opposite of mine on the subject. I definitely did have a few issues with Clear Sky though...that bullshit gun-nest at the Cordon entrance, only ONE underground section that was way too short, travel cost during the earlier stages of the game before you could make any real money, and how the game became a rail shooter at the end. It's just such a unique experience....yeah, I'm even more excited for CoP now. :D

[sawn_off]

My biggest hurdle is that I started with Clear Sky. Figured I'd play them chronologically. Big mistake, I suppose. Still have too much of a bad taste in my mouth to buy the original.

The UI seems to be better, and the map's great, hell even the repair upgrade system has its merits. But the condition system was a complete binary system of everything jamming as soon as it dropped below 100%. Fully upgraded guns would jam after a handful of magazines.

And even though there's no effect of failing tasks, I'd get pretty pissed when I was spammed with three simultaneous, involuntary "protect the braindead NPC camp" side missions.

[Nihilanth]

Honestly, if you're complaining about weapon jamming in stalker, you're very picky, in my opinion. Sure, weapons jam, just reload and you're back in action, no big deal.

[Thief]

Yeah, once I started making money I always kept my weapons/armor in tip-top shape. Only time I got a few jams in a short span was near the end of the game where smiths are no longer around. I actually thought the weapon jams in Far Cry 2 were pretty cool.

Faction wars were a bit of pain in the ass though...I remember numerous times I'd wipeout an enemy occupied area only to lose it a few minutes later because of a bandit group spawning farely close to the area. Wasn't sure if your faction eventually shows up to defend the area as I always left as soon as it was cleared.

[Hudson]

Indeed, STALKER is a RPG/FPS hybrid to as much as it can be. It may seem unfair at first, but before you know it you're a god among men.

[Nihilanth]

Ok, I don't want to cause panic but there are conflicting information about the release date. There's no doubt Russian CoP site states first half of October as a release date. But at the same time bitComposer sites have different dates such as November and Q1 2010. Of course the only straight-from-the-source date is first half of October but then again, we don't have the official date on the English site. So we may have to wait longer.

[Nihilanth]

More confusion to the subject of the release date. Apparently Stephan Barnickel from bitComposer reported that the game will come out in November in Germany and Q1 2010 for the rest of the world... So if it's true, it goes like this:

Russia / Ukraine: October 09 release
Germany: November 09 release
Everyone else: Q1 2010

Right... By the way, here's the cover:

http://www3.pic-upload.de/22.09.09/s5czvb1wwjs.png

[Echo Black]

More confusion to the subject of the release date. Apparently Stephan Barnickel from bitComposer reported that the game will come out in November in Germany and Q1 2010 for the rest of the world...

This sucks, I can't read Russian. Will have to wait. :(

[Thief]

Ah, damn! Was hoping to enjoy this before buying Batman. Guess it'll have to be the other way around. :(

[Nihilanth]

There's a new video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxArg0tgLrs) out there which is pretty cool. In addition to showing new automatic shotgun in action, there's a scene where player is trading with a barman and we can actually buy some Artifacts from him further confirming that stalkers are dynamically looking for them and selling them.

[Echo Black]

And by the way, I will be doing some hardcore "wait and see" with this one, seeing how Clear Sky made me lose my progress more than once due to its slew of bugs, and the tech support simply advised me to "start over". GSC is a pathetic softhouse with a great idea on their hands, it's a bit sad really. I was determined to not get anything from them ever again after Clear Sky, but my rage waned, now I'm just cautiously pessimistic as always.

[Nihilanth]

DX10 vs DX11 comparison shots. (http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,695861/Stalker-Call-of-Pripyat-The-first-DirectX-11-screenshots/News/) Tesselation looks pretty cool, although I guess it's mainly noticable at very close range. The only real difference with shadows appears to be the fact that they are more blurred when farther from the object casting them.

[Thief]

Cool video! New weapons looks nice. Was sort of surprised during the last 30 seconds of the video though...it seems as if they've made artifact hunting less of a challenge, I mean the character is literally in a minefield of artifacts! Loading up before a big action sequence, maybe? I hope that area isn't anywhere close to the beginning of the game. The new locations look really cool.

[Jiminator]

be interesting to see how that goes. artifacts were great in the SoC garbage, it was hard to collect the souls. The stadium also had tons of artifacts, although if you went in the main entrance it would prematurely end the level. Anyway the artifact and cache hunting has amounted to a good minigame, hope they keep it up.

[XPM]

Heres to hoping that they've fixed the damn multicore bug.
Stalker SoC and CS runs on one core only. I can't believe they havent issued a patch or workaround for this.
Some say to set the affinity to 0 then back to all cores, but that does not work for everybody.
Letting the gpu do all the work..bah.
Crysis runs great on Enthusiast on 1920x1080, but clear sky runs like shit compared to it because of that well known "bug".

[Karthik]

Heres to hoping that they've fixed the damn multicore bug.
Stalker SoC and CS runs on one core only. I can't believe they havent issued a patch or workaround for this.
Some say to set the affinity to 0 then back to all cores, but that does not work for everybody.
Letting the gpu do all the work..bah.
Crysis runs great on Enthusiast on 1920x1080, but clear sky runs like shit compared to it because of that well known "bug".
You serious? I thought Stalker was designed for multicore CPUs.
Hmm:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/stalker_cpu_performance/

[Nihilanth]

For anyone interested here are some more quotes from people who have played the Russian version of the game (found of TTLG forums). Don't read if you're already anticipating it too much. :(


I haven't played it but I know the fields change after blowouts.

Look great! Do the pistols go to actual iron sight or is it still retarded like in CS?
ironsight

I stopped playing since I pretty much emptied the whole map and like I said (even though I got some bad babelfish translation to english now) I don't wanna change to another map and spoil it for me without proper explanation/voiceovers. This is so much better than CS so far. the animals are hardcore. after a blowout there seem to be much more of them. had a fight with wild boars and snorks and didn't have enough shotgun shells so I had to run away ! the barren landscape actually is more appealing to me, makes it so much more depressing. And it seems (although random) the weather is much worse than in SOC. dusk and dawn are most beautiful

i emptied the first map. all on stop until november german release. I went to a friend and his is already in pripyat. he said he played yesterday around 10hours in a row. he says it's glorious, showed me a few of his most beloved quests and all I can say is: we are in for a treat. it's sooooo much better than CS. much more character and unfortunately no good day-screenshots by me because I got constant bad weather (which I like). most of the quests are multi-parted so no "fetch-only" quests, each one progresses nicely over more than one objective and location.
STALKER IS BACK !!!!!

I'd say this game is even more confusing if you didn't play SOC than CS was. it certainly takes SOC and adds bigger maps, more loose AI-life, harder(!!!) animals, blowouts with monsterspawning, hunger, sleep....many of the things the original STALKER omitted. So it's like GSC's re-interpretation of their own game mixed up with old concepts and inspirations from mods.

Quests seem much more interesting though. A few I finished were not linear, and linked with some other quests. Also, a lot of new items.

pripyat is the "shit". exploring every nook and cranny the game gives you hours and hours of pleasure. I'm giddy like a schoolkid, fanboy-ism got me and I won't accept any more bad words about the GOTY contender of this year ;)
(just kiddin')

I played some more forcing myself to forget about the textures and lack of graphics details, and the game is interesting, interesting dialogues and side stories, interesting nook and crannies with prizes and surprises here and there. This swamp is even larger than the swamp from CS. And overall the game seems much closer to RPG than any of previous. I still have played too little to judge it properly though.

PS: And the sky is not clear anymore, it's almost permanently murky now.

I'm impressed with quests quality, after SoC (let alone CS) they're a big step ahead.
Nights are pitchy dark, it's better to sleep in Skadovsk till morning, the monsters are abound at nights. There also are small dungeons on the map, they aren't additional maps, but part of the single map, so no loading.

The game now has the achievements system, player is awarded with titles for various achievements. I just got the "Detective" title for investigating and solving disappearance of stalkers:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2509/ss242100409231438zaton.jpg

Yep, the graphics and architecture definitely ARE less polished than SoC/CS, that's what you notice right away once you start CoP. But the gameplay and atmosphere are definitely better than at least CS, and the quests I've done so far are the best, conversations also are more interesting. Stalkers now collect artifacts, heal injured, ransack killed, some return to the bar at dusk and come away at sunrise. Oh, and the first map (I haven't seen others yet) is huge compared to previous titles, complete with some dungeons - it all runs without any loadings unlike Fallout3 f.e. That's why they had to reduce the details I guess.

PS: And you won't believe it, but it's............... stable.

The quest design in this game is really great, it feels like they're actually using dialogue and the engine to their full potential. Also, you can really feel the optimizations.
So far the only hitch is I'm having trouble finding an artifact that reduces radiation.


On a less positive note, here's a problem that I hope will be solved in patches, something that XP users will bitch about:

A moderator of official forums just explained the problem.


It has to do with memory fragmentation that DirectX uses for loading of textures. In 32bit OSes (at least Win) max address space for a process is 2Gb bla bla bla, CoP needs more than that for non-downgraded textures with current size of maps, the problem is solvable if all resources are loaded anew every time player loads a save file, but it will lead to too long loadings. For 64-bit OSes 4Gb of address space is allowed for every 32-bit process, and therefore they allow to use full-sized textures in the game.

Basically you can't have full-sized textures on 32-bit OS. Bullshit.

[Karthik]

How much different are those textures ^?

[Micki!]

Apparently a notable graphical tradeoff, for a notable larger world with less cut off locations where loading occurs... If the larger world and aditional improvemetns are well done, i'd give away some graphical deail anytime... I mean as long it's not a load of smudgey yoghurt looking surfaces i'm fine, and the screenshots i've seen so far look great too imo, so i guess it's all cool...

[Nihilanth]

How much different are those textures ^?

I think you can google it but this is an example (note the gun):

http://pic.ipicture.ru/uploads/091002/V1mlODvSR5.jpg

[Jiminator]

really they make a good point. and no doubt someone will come up with a patch to put in the textures. but it sounds like the real solution is for microsoft to fix dx

[Nihilanth]

Apparently a notable graphical tradeoff, for a notable larger world with less cut off locations where loading occurs... If the larger world and aditional improvemetns are well done, i'd give away some graphical deail anytime...

Not to be picky but that sounds almost exactly like my post at TLI. :o

really they make a good point. and no doubt someone will come up with a patch to put in the textures. but it sounds like the real solution is for microsoft to fix dx

I should also mention that (as far as I know) you can set full-sized textures on 32-bit OS with static lightning, I think.

[Micki!]

Not to be picky but that sounds almost exactly like my post at TLI. :o



That was unintended, guess we just had the same words in mind when explaining it :D

That shot isn't bad though, like many here will surely agree with, a better framerate and bigger world and better gameplay beats a pretty game... Especially if that comes with better framerate, this game seriously sucks so hard when it's running slowly, the difference is immense imo (i couldn't even hunt a few mutants with a shotgun at dawn in Clear Sky due to soem graphical effects in the morning that always makes it run slow untill an little later when the effect wears off)

[slapnutz]

Wait so will the game load different resolution textures depending on if you play on a 32bit vs 64bit OS?

[Nihilanth]

Kind of. The highest res textures will only appear on 64bit OS or in 32bit OS using Static Lighting. The stupid thing is that it's an artificial limitation that has nothing to do with 64bit. The game is just set so that it needs 3gigs of RAM to work with the best textures and you need a 64bit OS to detect it. The positive part is that because it's such a ridiculous limitation, it can be easily hacked. But I don't know if the game is gonna be stable that way.

[Thief]

Probably going to wait for this (hopeful) patch to be released before purchasing, but any word on a definite release date?

[Niap!]

I've been using a 64bit OS for quite a while now so thats not an issue for me. The game is already out in Russia, would of been nice if it was a simultaneous release. I think its currently slated to be released sometime early 2010, haven't seen anything more specific then that.

[Karthik]

The Stalker franchise has been known to have numerous bugs and glitches. Better have them delay it and patch up the english version before releasing.

[Nihilanth]

In terms of bugs the only thing that was reported about CoP is that it's stable and pretty polished even in 1.0. :)

[Danule]

In terms of bugs the only thing that was reported about CoP is that it's stable and pretty polished even in 1.0. :)

they finally finished a game before releasing it? good for them!

[Jiminator]

hrm, not too happy about the mixed release, wonder why they did it that way? and if some publisher is playing some games or something else.

[slapnutz]

hrm, not too happy about the mixed release, wonder why they did it that way? and if some publisher is playing some games or something else.

Maybe they'll use the sales from the Russian/German versions to fund they english voice actors? :D

[Jiminator]

Yeah, in thinking about it I realized that the russian market is probably not their biggest market. like you say, its probably good for them to get some money now, patch the game, and release a more finished product for the rest of the world.

[Thief]

Having no luck finding any russian reviews. Anyone found some?

[Nihilanth]

Here are some more comments on the game. This time some criticism (except the first quote) to get a better view, enjoy.


The game is pretty long if you choose to do all optional quests, there are plenty of them, also some hidden quests, many people will just miss them, because they require kind of meticulous play. I still haven't finished the game (haven't been in Pripyat yet), and I think I already spent more than 30-40 hours, got 6 or 7 achievements, found 30 artifacts, finished almost all optional quests in Zaton and Jupiter (but not all), found the Oasis too (pure luck though) The quality of quests are comparable with Fallout 3's ones, or Gothic 1/2. This game gets 85% from me currently.

Now the things I don't like.

The main problem is absence of any kind of deficiency very quickly after start. I haven't any deficiency of ammo, weapons, armour, or money. They all can be restocked very quickly. Perhaps it can be much more problematic if you'll choose to not do optional quests though, I don't know.

The second problem is lack of space. Even though the maps are bigger than before, quest objects are too close to each other just because now, in absolute majority of cases, you don't need to leave a map to accomplish a quest you get on this map, and there are much more quests than before, so more quest givers and places.

The third problem is lack of ominous atmosphere of SoC. I almost hadn't a true sense of loneliness/danger when I surveyed the landscape (which I had in SoC often) because of proximity of safe places/neutral characters. Maybe the mod that expands the view distance that I use is for worse after all. Zaton and Jupiter are generally safe, f.e. the Wild Territory or Radar or Yantar of SoC were considerably more dangerous/ominous.

Artifacts seem kind of dull in COP. Only downside to them is -1,-2 or -4 radiation? Weren't there interesting artifacts in SoC that e.g. gave you nice bonuses but made you bleed to death in two seconds? I think much more could've been done with this.

[slapnutz]

IGN has some short vids...
http://au.media.pc.ign.com/media/143/14340292/vids_1.html

Just wondering, the vids have English voices along with english text when talking to characters. Does one of the european versions already have this option or are they playing some preview copy with english audio?

Sorry, I'm not brushed up on my STALKER localisation versions history.

[Jiminator]

I think the russian game has been released. as far as I know it does not include any additional languages.

[Nihilanth]

Actually I'm intrigued by the localisation in those vids.

Yes, Russian version is out, the game will be out in Germany in November, rest of us need to wait for Q1 2010. I have no idea whether those versions include more languages.

[Feared]

I never liked stalker.
Run's like shit on my rig. Which is funny considering my rig can handle Crysis maxed setting's 8xqaa 1600x1200 DX10 and get 70fps solid.

I blame there crap engine. ;)

P.S I tried Call of Pripyat (Russian version) and it still run's like shit.

[XPM]

I never liked stalker.
Run's like shit on my rig. Which is funny considering my rig can handle Crysis maxed setting's 8xqaa 1600x1200 DX10 and get 70fps solid.

I blame there crap engine. ;)

P.S I tried Call of Pripyat (Russian version) and it still run's like shit.

I think the engine is great...well...except for the fact that it runs on one core only.

What's your specs? Sad news if this one also runs solo core... Way to go.

[slapnutz]

Actually I'm intrigued by the localisation in those vids.

Yes, Russian version is out, the game will be out in Germany in November, rest of us need to wait for Q1 2010. I have no idea whether those versions include more languages.

After a bit more digging, it may be a preview copy of the euro(english)/us version.

http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/103/1038477p1.html

[Feared]

I think the engine is great...well...except for the fact that it runs on one core only.

What's your specs? Sad news if this one also runs solo core... Way to go.

I have a quad core.
Probably the problem...

[Idiotska]

This reminds me that Shadow of Chernobyl isn't on the DNF list, and it had a fairly lengthy development cycle.

Whatever, I love Call of Pripyat despite the English actors being pretty meh-ish and the dialogue lines still not making any sense despite numerous proper translations.

[Thief]

Yeah, so...apparently Call of Pripyat is out in Canada and the US. Game sites such as Gamespot, Gamespy and Eurogamer have already reviewed it. However, after calling EB Games & Gamestop (in Canada at least), they've never even heard of it and don't have it on their upcoming titles list. CoP is showing on all american websites, but no Canadian sites. Very strange...

Any fellow canucks happen to stumble on it in stores? Might have to seek it out on Ebay, but so far, only the Russian and PAL versions are being listed. :(

[Jiminator]

Picked up Stalker:CoP tonight. Some people said it was at Target retail store (but not their website). They were right. :)

[Water12356]

Yep it was at my Target. 40 bucks. Sadly I don't have extra money right now. I need to send out my taxes so I can get my rebate. >.<

[dark_angel]

anyone tried the demo, it is pretty small download just under 450 Megs.

[Nihilanth]

Uhm, there's no demo for CoP. :o

[dark_angel]

^^^
http://www.clubic.com/demo-jeux-video-15834-0-s-t-a-l-k-e-r-call-of-pripyat.html

[Nihilanth]

I believe that's a benchmark (http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=news&item=150), at least the size matches.

[dark_angel]

Yeah, putting it is the demos section was somewhat misleading.

[Jiminator]

loving this game. they tweaked a lot of stuff. I think they got a lot of it right.
goods:

Stashes now appear as stacks of supplies that can be seen and picked up (without clues)
crappy weapons have to be repaired to be sold, for the ones that can be repaired for a profit, others have to be dropped
missions are all pretty customized, not like the dog killing ones
missions can often have two solution choices, payment or pain :D
Stalkers fighting other stalkers - or anyone really = wait for PROFIT!!!
Lots of other stuff

Issues:
some slowdowns at times
some crashes at level reloads (or transitions)

overall if you like stalker this is a good extension of the franchise, in probably a lot of good ways.

[Damien_Azreal]

Please tell me it's better than Clear Sky at least? I loved the first STALKER, but Clear Sky just felt like a step in the completely wrong direction.

[Nihilanth]

Whatever people may say about CoP, everyone agrees right after starting the game that it's nothing like CS. Whether it's better than SoC, people are on the fence (I think it's clearly better, in my opinion fans are a little bit too nostalgic about SoC) but it's a lot more like a stalker should be. The only thing that stays from CS are all the improvements, things that SoC didn't have. But I guess I've already said more than enough on TLI. :)

[Jiminator]

I didn't think CS was bad, just it was not as good as SoC. CoP.... is very interesting. Not much handholding in this game at all, you will need to do a lot of exploring. Artifact system has been tweaked yet again. I did like artifacts from CoP. They kept the changes that made them linked to anomalies and not just lying around all over the place. The challenge was in figuring out how to get them. Anomalies will also generate new artifacts.

You also find (dead) stalkers with artifacts and buttloads of weapons which is damn cool also. The suits have been tweaked (endurance recovery, +max weight for one thing). You also have strength drinks and resistance medications. The sleep timer is awesome, you slide a scrollbar to the time of day you want to wake up and you can see the lighting at that time. You now get visual clues as to hunger, rad levels, different damage types. Just everything is redesigned and improved.

One thing I don't like as much is that stashes are now part of rewards for missions and do not come from killing stalkers. But they have good loot, and you can find stashes without the stash mission.

Anyway it is my current fun game to play.

[Thief]

Released on Steam. $29.99 regular, $19.99 Loyalty discount (have to own Steam copies of SoC & Clear Sky). Looks like I'll be picking it up on Steam. Haven't been able to find it anywhere, including EBay. Ah well!

[Morbid]

9,99€ here... this is awesome

and it is SoC OR Clear Sky !

[Thief]

Right you are. My mistake.
Guess I should've picked up a copy of SoC when it was going for $1.99 during the holidays.

[Water12356]

Theif, they are selling it at Target for 40 bucks if you want a retail copy. :)

[Thief]

Living in Canada = no Target stores :( :mad:
Could take a 90 min drive south of the border, but it's probably for the better that I don't.
CoP in hand = drop everything else

[Micki!]

Well i just bought it over Steam...
This better be fun :o

[Jiminator]

if you liked SoC you will like this. Didn't like it? Then unknown....

[Micki!]

Well i liked it, it had some faults, but i expect those to have been addressed from what i read so far...

Such as... Actual stealth ..? Like sneaking up so someone, using the knife, and actually making good use (more like any use) -of the noise-indicator that they bothered to include ever since the first game... It's fine i make noise... But as long it doesn't upset nearby mutants or give out my position, i don't really understand why it exists...

I can live without it, but hell it would add alot to the games potentional if the noise indicator actually had a purpose...

[Chimera]

Oh dear, 2 minutes of gameplay and 2 bluescreens to match...

I love S.T.A.L.K.E.R :D

edit 1: Make that 3, and a power outage all in the last 30 minutes. Someone doesn't want me to play this game:p

edit 2: bugger. think it's my graphics card dying ... artefacts on screen at post = not good in my experience.

edit 3: reseated the card and it seems ok now, think it might have overheated...

I'm sorry I doubted you S.T.A.L.K.E.R :D :love:

[Jiminator]

Completed the game, entered free play mode. thoughts:
* I don't like the text dumps that make up the story. Yeah, it is necessary for the localization, however a lot of stuff gets missed.
* The squad based stuff is good, however I mostly dislike it as it rushes those parts of the game and I like to take my time and do my own thing
* The game continues the excellent evolution of the stalker series. However the story scripting still needs work. I find it is easy to fall into branches of the storyline without knowing how I got there. In other cases it is easy to find something that will nuke a bunch of other missions. It is annoying when it happens as you feel like you lost something
* Original SoC IMO had more puzzles and challenges with the caches. This game has a few but not on the level of SoC.
* I love the fact that caches are now stuff that is visible and can be taken. Will make second playthroughs much easier.
* I like the fact that artifacts are now part of anomalies, and some are a challenge to get to. They cannot however replicate the feeling of SoC with 5 antirad artifacts prowling the radioactive hot spots in garbage and searching for goodies with the meter blaring.
* The world is much safer - and emptier. Not like playing SoC the first time and taking a right turn to the military base. In fact I really miss that there is no military base to shoot up.
* Gun customizations are very specialized. They also degrade much more rapidly. Things like night vision on a suit and the same on a gun - not so good.
* military mech suit kicks much ass :)

[Mighty Boot]

Bringing this back from the dead because I just purchased Call of Pripyat but haven't installed it yet. Hoping I enjoy it. SoS was fun but flawed.

[Alithinos]

Bringing this back from the dead because I just purchased Call of Pripyat but haven't installed it yet. Hoping I enjoy it. SoS was fun but flawed.

Enjoy your gaming! :)
If you want any help at a mission maybe I can help you.

[Mighty Boot]

Thanks! I really appreciate that. I'm trying to be a good stalker this time because I didn't play SoC very well. I didn't really know what to do with the artifacts and I had trouble following the plot. I even forgot to do the decoder mission. luckily I found that out right around the hotel, but the door was locked! I had to shoot an RPG in the room to blast the decoder toward the window to grab it. This time I want to get a good foundation and understanding before spending a good chunk of time in the Zone.

I installed CoP today and I'm glad it takes the time to explain itself (even though the dialogue in the intro doesn't match the text at all :doh:) but the game already seems a bit overwhelming. I already have a couple questions...

What do you reccomend pursuing first: main helicopter missions, side missions, looting, or anything else?

And having never played Clear Sky, I don't understand the artifact finder or whatever that yellow device is. What does it do and how do I use it?

Other than that, I'm glad you have more stamina. The graphics aren't as good as I expected but the lighting sitll looks great. I'm also glad that when people show you how to get places, it takes you there automatically. Walking everywhere in SoC was a chore.

[Alithinos]

Thanks! I really appreciate that. I'm trying to be a good stalker this time because I didn't play SoC very well. I didn't really know what to do with the artifacts and I had trouble following the plot. I even forgot to do the decoder mission. luckily I found that out right around the hotel, but the door was locked! I had to shoot an RPG in the room to blast the decoder toward the window to grab it. This time I want to get a good foundation and understanding before spending a good chunk of time in the Zone.

I installed CoP today and I'm glad it takes the time to explain itself (even though the dialogue in the intro doesn't match the text at all :doh:) but the game already seems a bit overwhelming. I already have a couple questions...

What do you reccomend pursuing first: main helicopter missions, side missions, looting, or anything else?

And having never played Clear Sky, I don't understand the artifact finder or whatever that yellow device is. What does it do and how do I use it?

Other than that, I'm glad you have more stamina. The graphics aren't as good as I expected but the lighting sitll looks great. I'm also glad that when people show you how to get places, it takes you there automatically. Walking everywhere in SoC was a chore.

I strongly recommend you to do the looting and artifact hunting first.
You are going to face difficult enemies and some of them at big numbers later..
Search for artifacts and sell the ones you don't need to make money and buy good armor and guns,or find lot's of stashes.
I then suggest you keep moving at the main mission,and leave the side missions for the end.
After you complete the game you will be given the option to free roam and play around,so if you leave the side quests you will have more things to do after the ending. ;)


Now about the yellow thing.... :dopefish:
That's the artifact detector!
When you go near anomalies press the button to take it on your hand.
If there is an artifact near there,it will start beeping and it's light will be flashing.
If you go closer to the artifact,the beeps and flashes will become more frequent.
It will show you where artifacts are.
Later,you can find or buy another model,which have lcd screen and shows exactly where the artifacts are.

Remember that: Collecting artifacts is your 'job' at S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
It's what you do to get money.If you ignore them,you will not be able to buy that state of the art protective suit you will be seeing at the merch's shop.
You will always feel poor and the game will be harder (much harder)for you.
;)

[Mighty Boot]

Thanks a million!