Time has caught up with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[Shakermaker]

Found this on another site:

According to the official website the catastrophe creating the Zone you will playing in, occured on April 12th 2006 at 02:33 PM. That's about 7 or 8 hours ago. The game itself takes place in 2011 so lets hope GSC Game World has finished it by then.

 

[$kelet0r]

lol
ahh the days when STALKER news was the rage...

 

[Dalamari]

Just look at the screenshots and you can see how time has caught up with Stalker, no need to bother with the story

 

[CptStern]

heh I was a mac user when I first heard of stalker ...I'm now on my 3rd pc

 

[Gargantou]

*Rant begins*
Dalamari, let me ask, have you been to GSC and seen the latest February build like a group of other people have who actually played a RECENT BUILD?
I mean otherwise how would you know how the graphics are? There have been no recent screens of the DX9 engine running maxed.. Why? Because THQ don't wanna release'em.. They want to start a super advertising campaign before they release the game, so they're holding back alot of media until then..
I love it how people are judging STALKER etc without keeping up at all with the latest news, like the fact that THQ has said that they've been so pleased with recent builds that if the current quality keeps up they'll release it as early as September 2k6, still, if that's gonna hold, we'll have to wait and see.
*Rant over*

 

[CrazyHarij]

damn.. last time i looked at those screenshots it was mindblowing

 

[$kelet0r]

yeah pretty disappointing looking at those models and graphics - how quickly things change

 

[CptStern]

from their site

April 12, 2006, 02:33 p.m.
Chernobyl zone was lit by an intolerably bright light. The clouds were evaporating in the silver bright sky with a thunder and earthquake to follow. People fell on the ground facedown closing their bleeding eyes and ears. The glow spread over an immense territory which was subsequently called the Zone. People ran away saving their lives. It looked like a radioactive explosion at the nuclear plant occurred. The army sealed off the Zone...

The explosion epicenter was a kilometre away from the nuclear plant. Obviously, some tests had been held there and they caused the disaster. Presumably, the entire personnel died within seconds, but still there was a probability of survivals among the staff. It appeared impossible to arrange a rescue operation, as the Zone was characterized by strange energy disturbances posing mortal danger to the explorers. Attempts to use robots were unavailing. Several months after the accident the crisis situation peaked when the Zone abruptly grew five kilometres bigger. People from nearby towns and villages were urgently evacuated, and the peril of a difficult-to-imagine scope loomed over the world.

they should have captialised on the date and released something to coincide with the date ..fake news reels, in game movie ...something, anything

 

[Dalamari]

*Rant begins*
Dalamari, let me ask, have you been to GSC and seen the latest February build like a group of other people have who actually played a RECENT BUILD?
I mean otherwise how would you know how the graphics are? There have been no recent screens of the DX9 engine running maxed.. Why? Because THQ don't wanna release'em.. They want to start a super advertising campaign before they release the game, so they're holding back alot of media until then..
I love it how people are judging STALKER etc without keeping up at all with the latest news, like the fact that THQ has said that they've been so pleased with recent builds that if the current quality keeps up they'll release it as early as September 2k6, still, if that's gonna hold, we'll have to wait and see.
*Rant over*

No, but I took a shit in the toilet this morning, so I think I got a good enough idea

 

[$kelet0r]

from their site



they should have captialised on the date and released something to coincide with the date ..fake news reels, in game movie ...something, anything

lol they can hardly do that if they have no product to show for it
which looks quite likely
we'll know alot by the time e3 rolls around

 

[Shakermaker]

*Rant begins*
Dalamari, let me ask, have you been to GSC and seen the latest February build like a group of other people have who actually played a RECENT BUILD?
I mean otherwise how would you know how the graphics are? There have been no recent screens of the DX9 engine running maxed.. Why? Because THQ don't wanna release'em.. They want to start a super advertising campaign before they release the game, so they're holding back alot of media until then..
I love it how people are judging STALKER etc without keeping up at all with the latest news, like the fact that THQ has said that they've been so pleased with recent builds that if the current quality keeps up they'll release it as early as September 2k6, still, if that's gonna hold, we'll have to wait and see.
*Rant over*

You actually still believe in this game?

 

[Shadow-warrior]

Just look at the screenshots and you can see how time has caught up with Stalker, no need to bother with the story

Damn you guys are graphic whores!


I'd take an engrossing adventure RPG with a vibrant and living world with those 'old' graphics anyday of the week over every-object-bump-mapped-and-plastic-looking-HDR crap.

 

[$kelet0r]

Damn you guys are graphic whores!


I'd take an engrossing adventure RPG with a vibrant and living world with those 'old' graphics anyday of the week over every-object-bump-mapped-and-plastic-looking-HDR crap.

Thats not the point - the graphics looking so poor today is symbolic of the whole shambles that Stalker has become
When they first published those - they were better than anything on the market by a long long way
Now? They're an embarassment

 

[Shamrock]

damn.. last time i looked at those screenshots it was mindblowing

Thats how I felt..

This game should have never been made.

 

[ktimekiller]

It looks terrible now ><

 

[Gargantou]

Wow.. You guys never cease to amaze me.. You probably haven't even seen the DX9 renderer on maxed settings(Only the people who've actually played the recent build at GSC, lucky bastards, they gave positive words about the game btw), they've only pretty much shown off the DX8 renderer due to the fact that THQ wants to save up all the "nice" shit for their advertising blitz, they've said so themselves.. You guys make me hope that Iran starts a nuclear war and eradicates 99.9% of humankind, all the SMART people in the world being the remainder .1, and I doubt anyone of us here is part of that .1 haha.
But w/e, don't mind me, I'm just extra annoyed at humanity in general today because we all suck ass except for the great leaders of WW2, Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Hirohito, Roosevelt.

 

[AmishSlayer]

One, almost everybody here cares WAY too much about graphics. I've noticed older gamers don't care about graphics whereas mainstream gamers and younger gamers seem to care a lot more bout them IN GENERAL. If the game ever comes out and has decent graphics I might buy it.

Second...I am SO glad I don't allow myself to get caught up in hype for games any more. After HL2 and how I felt that turned out I just stopped looking more than a couple months to the future. There's a bunch of long-distant releases I'm looking forward to but I'll be damned if I go to read any material on games like Alan Wake, Stalker, Spore etc. I'll watch movies but that's about it.

I like my base of knowledge of Stalker how it is. All I know is there's supposed to be great weather effects, hunting or something and a post-nuclear war/catastrophe setting. I don't want to know any more until I see a demo or something.

 

[Shakermaker]

I've noticed older gamers don't care about graphics whereas mainstream gamers and younger gamers seem to care a lot more bout them IN GENERAL. If the game ever comes out and has decent graphics I might buy it.

Err, what are you saying here? That you're getting older but that you're still in touch with your inner child?

 

[Gargantou]

I myself am 15 and I seem to be one of the lesser graphics whores on here, I mean heck.. I play ASCII RPGs(Roguelikes), you can't become a lesser graphicswhore than that imo.

 

[AmishSlayer]

Err, what are you saying here? That you're getting older but that you're still in touch with your inner child?

I'm just saying as bigger gamers mature they care less and less about graphics.

This is why I think younger and more mainstream crowds want the Xbox 360, a mixed crowd want the PS3 (due to some classics being remade and some just for the graphics), and an older crowd wants in on the Revolution. It's a lot less powerful but I think it's going to bring the most unique gameplay to the table and I couldn't care less that it's less powerful than the other 2. As far as graphics are concerned...if they're on par or slightly better than GC's graphics I'm happy.

 

[Que-Ever]

I get into games less when the graphics are better. Doom > Doom 3. Jedi Knight > Jedi knight 2. Half-life and mods >>>>>>>>>Half-life 2 and mods.

I'm not sure how correct using lots of carrots is, to show how much something is greater than something else.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Oh STALKER, how I loved thee when your fans voted my story to 1st place.

And how I hated thee when that cheap bastard exploited the grading system so his story would be 1st place.

And yet, how I hold out hope you'll grace my computer one day.

 

[AmishSlayer]

I myself am 15 and I seem to be one of the lesser graphics whores on here, I mean heck.. I play ASCII RPGs(Roguelikes), you can't become a lesser graphicswhore than that imo.

I used to play muds all the time with friends. That is the ultimate low of graphics. If I found a good one again I'd start it up with any of you guys.
I remember playing one where it had all kinds of stuff. There were pirates to fight, the smurf village was there (smurfs were a bitch to fight), dbz characters to fight, disney places, etc. It was awesome. There was a huge variety of classes/races you could be too. You could be a vampire, saiyan, half-anything, human, robot, anything you can think of.

 

[Shakermaker]

I'm just saying as bigger gamers mature they care less and less about graphics.

I was just kidding.

Seriously tho. Graphics shouldn't distract. Take WoW for example. It runs on modest rigs, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles like Oblivion, but because the it's done with so much attention to detail, the graphics are perfectly acceptable.
STALKER was launched with the graphics as one of its main selling points. In that sense, time has literally caught up with this project. Gargantou may ramble about not-yet-shown recent build graphics, but I will believe that when I see it.

 

[Gargantou]

Shakermaker, if you'll believe it when you see it, why don't wait with passing off judgement until the game is released?
I myself, I keep a little faith in this project mainly because it's one-of-a-kind, a FPRPG set in a partially faithful recreation of Pripyat and the Chernobyl reactor+area(Which I'm hugely fascinated off, even have photobooks from Chernobyl alongside documentations off mutations caused by it, such a 6 legged horses that died soon after birth), and partially because it's a "post-apocalyptic"(In a sense) survival-RPG, please show me another game that's the same as STALKER in gameplay, theme and feel, and I'll stop having some faith in this game.

I'm waiting for you to show me mate!

 

[Shakermaker]

Shakermaker, if you'll believe it when you see it, why don't wait with passing off judgement until the game is released?

I don't pass judgement, I just lost my belief in this game.

 

[jimbo118]

graphics look crap!?what!? did you guys see the pcgamer trailer/e3 trailer from last year? that was fooking awesome looking...but yeah the game has become a bit a bit of a joke, still if it does the biz i wont complain, with all the talk of games being dumbed down we can only hope Stalker wont bomb...

 

[pvtbones]

This game (sadly) is the next DNF.

 

[StardogChampion]

They should've just finished the previous-gen Stalker then released it. They would have made a profit, and they could've been half-way through making Stalker 2 with the funds.

 

[Gray Fox]

As far as graphics go
Art direction=90%
Technical ability=10%
So graphicswise Stalker still looks very good, but the game seems to open ended
to actually contain any complex events and or levels which is a bummer for me.

 

[xcellerate]

So what exactly is going on with stalker? They are releasing it, and they just haven't uploaded the new media for it??

 

[Jack_Karverboy]

Holy shit, everyone get in your basements and bring food, drinks, computer, games, and a pretty woman! :O

 

[kupocake]

There have been no recent screens of the DX9 engine running maxed.. Why? Because THQ don't wanna release'em.. They want to start a super advertising campaign before they release the game, so they're holding back alot of media until then..

Or perhaps they're holding back the media because it looks about as attractive as a plate of dog-food thrown at Donatella Versace's face, and they want to capitalise on people's rosy-eyed recollections that the game once looked like it might actually become something?

graphics look crap!?what!? did you guys see the pcgamer trailer/e3 trailer from last year?

We can't be thinking of the same trailer, because the Stalker trailer I saw last year was 10 kinds of terrible that made me think the game had actually regressed to a build several years ago. Crap monsters and shoddy animation.

This game (sadly) is the next DNF.

Now now... That would surely require Duke Nukem Forever to stop being Duke Nukem Forever

 

[Jack_Karverboy]

The graphics were good in the trailer, it just lacked something,I can't really tell, it seemed choppy too...maybe they just had a crappy computer.

 

[Noobulon]

Art direction=90%
Technical ability=10%

Agreed. Looking at the screenshots on the site, the environments seem to have real character, and plenty atmosphere as well.
Shame it will be dismissed if released without the latest in hi-def texturing and lighting etc

 

[CrazyHarij]

nowadays i pretty much only play tiberian sun and soldat. i hope that says something about my opinion about graphics.

the thing is, it's supposed to be a realistic game with realistic graphics. in a game like this it's important for the immersion. Like john3571000 said earlier, it's symbolic for how the game has deteroriated. I remember looking at those screenshots and it feeling like a realistic world at your feet, ready to be played with.

this game was just too ambitious i think for a small ukranian developer.

 

[Jack_Karverboy]

I think the quality and realism of the graphics don't matter as much to the atmosphere as the style of the graphics...

 

[CrazyHarij]

yeah i agree with karver. the main problem in my opinion was that the shadows in the game are half assed. **** bumpmapping and all that shit. i just hate the look of novis stuff like the grass in one pic, it totally detracts from the realism.

 

[MiccyNarc]

I love it how everyone screams that we need something original in the gaming industry, but as soon as something original comes along but gets delayed, everyone waves it off as the next "DNF"

 

[Gargantou]

Yeah but take note, all these screens(99.9%) are running on the DX8 renderer, I've seen a few DX9 pics and I have to say that those looks very good, the FULLY-DYNAMIC SOFTSHADOWS are definitely topnotch, and so is the environment, complete with HDR(Not bloom but HDR) etc..
We'll have to wait and see with the final vers tho.. Hopefully THQ might decide to show something at this E3.. Otherwise it's only gonna fuel this popular "trendthought" that STALKER is gonna be the new DNF.

And MiccyNarc, very well said!
A good and original game shouldn't be rushed imo.. I'd take a rather complete ambitious games with several delays than an ambitious game that's unplayable(Derek Smarts BC3000 v1.0).