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

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Developer(s)	GSC Game World
Publisher(s)	THQ
Engine	X-Ray engine
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	NA: March 6, 2007 EU: March 30, 2007
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, with RPG elements
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, previously known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost, is an unreleased post-apocalyptic first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. In 2006, the game came 9th in Wired's Vaporware '06 award.

It is said that the game will use a software component called the "X-Ray engine" and will feature a theme based on an alternative reality, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the near future and causes strange changes in the area around it. The game is expected to have a non-linear storyline and feature gameplay elements such as trading and two-way communication with NPCs. The game is described as including some role-playing and economic elements.

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

GSC Game World revealed some details about the game's AI in January 2005. IGN reported that the game, while similar to Far Cry, will include more wildlife, and that the animals' behavior in the game is of equal importance to them as the humans'. The animals' aggressiveness will vary with their levels of hunger and rest, as well as other factors. Thus, the game will have some element of fight or flight to it. Some terminology of the game ("The Zone", "Stalker") as well as the background idea is borrowed from the popular science fiction book Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, as well as the 1979 film Stalker, which was adapted from the book.

Gameplay

Gameplay is expected to revolve around the player, who is a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.*(Specially Trained (in) Artefact, Lifeform, (and) Kinetic Energies Retrieval), a person who lives in the Zone and makes a living collecting artifacts and selling them. The player will also be able to interact with other NPCs in the Zone, and can join certain Stalker "guilds" and receive missions, which advance the storyline. Players will be able to explore over 30 square kilometers of the Zone, including the ghost town of Pripyat and the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, while encountering animals and flora mutated by radiation as well as other Stalkers and NPCs.

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

Technical features

X-Ray graphics engine

The X-ray Engine is a powerful cutting-edge DirectX 9 engine, unique and yet unparalleled in many respects. Up to a million polygons will be on-screen at any one time. The engine also boasts HDR effects, dynamic lighting, soft shadows, widescreen support, weather effects and more. The game takes place in a four square kilometre area, and both the outside and inside of this area is rendered to the same amount of detail. Some textures in the game were simply photographs of the walls in the developers' studio.

Artificial Intelligence

One of the many reasons for the high expectations for the game is the AI. Over a thousand characters live in the Zone, and these characters are non-scripted, meaning that AI life can be developed even when not in contact with the player.

The NPCs have a full life cycle (task accomplishment, combat, rest, food and sleep) and the same applies to the many monsters living in the Zone (hunting, attacking Stalkers and other monsters, resting, eating, sleeping). These monsters will migrate in large groups. The non-scripted nature of the characters means that there are an unlimited number of random quests (for example, rescuing Stalkers, destroying Stalker renegades, protecting or attacking camps, searching for treasure and so on). The AI travels around the entire zone as it sees fit.

Numerous tactics can be employed to complete the game (rushes, stealth, sniping and so on) and the NPCs will react in a different way for each of them. NPCs plan ahead (Goal-Oriented Action Planning) in order to achieve this.

Physics

Like many popular titles such as Half-Life 2 and The Elder Scrolls IV, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will have its own physics engine, supporting hundreds of physics objects on different levels. Ragdoll physics, destructible objects, bullet ballistics and skeleton animation can all be found in the game.

Weather

A weather system is integrated into various other parts of the game, and allows a variety of weather effects, such as sunshine, storms and showers. The weapons available, behaviour of the AI, game tactics, ranking systems, and available weapons will depend on the weather.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer, like many other modern games, will be available over both LAN and the Internet with up to 32 players. Currently the three game modes are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Artefact hunt.

Initial concept

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

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

Development delay

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

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

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

In an interview at the Russian Gameland Awards, PR Manager Oleg Yavorsky indicated that release was planned for September 2006.

Recent news and a new trailer say the game is to be released on March 13, 2007. In the February 2007 editions of PC Gamer UK and Edge there are advertisements for the game (featuring the slogan "Man Made Hell") which also gives a release date of March 2007. The following issue of PC Gamer UK is slated to have a review of the game.

THQ ran a competition in January 2007 offering the lucky winners the chance to play the beta version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R, in a 24 hour marathon session. The event, scheduled to take place on the 24th of January, was subsequently changed to a 12 hour session days before it was supposed to occur.

On the morning of the event, the 'lucky' winners were met at the venue by the THQ staff that had organised the event, who were embarrassed to report that they had been unable to get any copies of the game. Understandably, this does little to help the vaporware accusations.

'Aftermath' Trailer

On the 14^th of December, 2006, THQ released a 1:19 minute trailer that consisted of in-game and 3rd party Computer Generated footage. Titled 'Aftermath', the first 12 seconds show a truck speeding through The Zone in the year 2012 at night in a thunderous storm. The truck is struck by an abnormally accurate bolt of lightning, goes up in flames and is thrown off the road. The next 3 seconds show The Zone bathed in sunlight and what can be assumed to be the sole survivor lying still. Then, the camera goes to an almost dream-like sequence, showing a ghostly, mutilated figure (presumably another Stalker) standing in a corridor. After this are more shots, including a figure wandering in a field of tall grass, a pack of hounds thundering down a hill, a nuclear mushroom cloud and several in-game shots of the game itself.

At 1:00 minutes, the CG footage resumes with a Stalker finding the truck's remains, the survivor and carrying him away from the wreckage. The footage ends showing a figure (possibly the same survivor) wandering through a dark corridor with the game title overlaying him. The camera moves slowly down a corridor lit by a red alarm light and the words 'Man Made Hell' appear, followed by the confirmed release date of March 2007.

External links

• Official website
• THQ's Official S.T.A.L.K.E.R website
• Oblivion Lost, a English/German Fansite
• Stalker.pl, a Polish Fansite
• Stalker-game.se, a Swedish Fansite
• gamespot game page
• StalkerFiles.com, the Aftermath trailer download
• BNW: Stalker Screenshots and Articles