S.T.A.L.K.E.R.... thoughts?

O

Occidio

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
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Anyone ever play this game called Stalker? It came to me in my amazon prefrences. Was curious if anyone could say whether it was a decent game or not.
 
I think i saw multiplayer demo video a while back...it fucking sucked :confused:
 
Occidio said:
Anyone ever play this game called Stalker? It came to me in my amazon prefrences. Was curious if anyone could say whether it was a decent game or not.
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Is this a joke?
 
Sorry, I didnt see the pre-order thingy. I saw the stuff amazon puts in about, "people that played UT2004 played this" crap and thought it was out or something.
Link
 
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Abyss of Borg said:
No I think it will be out next month along with Duke Nukem Forever. :p
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Haha :)

Like so many other titles now a days, had it not been for MASSIVE delays in production it would have actually looked impressive for when it was released, I had a leaked alpha of this a LONG time ago and for the time it looked fantastic and it even ran well for the time.

Looking forward to S.T.A.L.K.E.R a few years ago was like looking forward to Crysis now.

Imagine if crysis is delayed 2 years, by the time its released its graphcis will be quite mediocre.

Shame because its such a massive wasted opportunity to produce something stunning, that doesn't happen too often now a days.
 
Frosteh said:
Haha :)

Like so many other titles now a days, had it not been for MASSIVE delays in production it would have actually looked impressive for when it was released, I had a leaked alpha of this a LONG time ago and for the time it looked fantastic and it even ran well for the time.

Looking forward to S.T.A.L.K.E.R a few years ago was like looking forward to Crysis now.

Imagine if crysis is delayed 2 years, by the time its released its graphcis will be quite mediocre.

Shame because its such a massive wasted opportunity to produce something stunning, that doesn't happen too often now a days.
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When comparing Far Cry and Crysis, yes the new engine will put the old one to shame in terms of graphic realism. But IMO, Far Cry still looks damn good to this day. Especially with the 64bit updates. Might be some hope for STALKER if the graphics engine is capable of scaling well with current and future GPU hardware.
 
DejaWiz said:
When comparing Far Cry and Crysis, yes the new engine will put the old one to shame in terms of graphic realism. But IMO, Far Cry still looks damn good to this day. Especially with the 64bit updates. Might be some hope for STALKER if the graphics engine is capable of scaling well with current and future GPU hardware.
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Yeah most engines scale well, but I've seen the new videos for stalker and a lot of it, especially indoors, looks very bland.

Games that try and use seamless indoor/outdoor environments always end up looking bad in both, games like oblivion where you load into zones inside buildings allow for a much greater level of detail all round.
 
I'm really not that concerned with the graphics looking dated.
STALKER was always about new and innovative gameplay.

If the gameplay delivers and the graphics are just so-so, I think the game
will still be a hit. The FPS genre is usually the complete opposite.
All of the focus is on having the best graphics and the gameplay is an afterthought.

I don't think this game will end up like Duke Nukem. I'm hoping they are serious
about releasing STALKER in q1/2007.
 
Even if it came out tomorrow its about 4 years too late. They missed the boat.
 
Half-Life 2 would have been released much sooner too, had it not been for hackers. I remember people bought ATI cards just for a coupon that sat on their desk for a LONG time. When it finally came out, it was badass. I am amazed that the code was written years ago, not to mention they were able to recode for High Dynamic Range lighting.
 
from what I've played

In a multiplayer map, the "anomolies" travel throught the map.
The medic "unlock" gun from BF2 is much better in effectiveness and sound.
Making barrels explode is always cool.
 
belmicah said:
I am amazed that the code was written years ago, not to mention they were able to recode for High Dynamic Range lighting.
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I'm pretty sure HDR was in several months prior to release, and got pulled for some reason. So it's not like they implemented it from scratch in a completed engine - the "completed" version was no doubt left with this addition in mind.
 
LuminaryJanitor said:
I'm pretty sure HDR was in several months prior to release, and got pulled for some reason. So it's not like they implemented it from scratch in a completed engine - the "completed" version was no doubt left with this addition in mind.
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I really doubt it, considering how long ago they started to code for the game (probably around 01-02). They do HDR differently than others do. You might be right about them "leaving with this addition in mind" though.

edit: From Hardocp's review of the 7950 GT "Half Life 2 is based on an entirely new engine called Source. This game engine has extreme flexibility allowing Valve to incorporate new gameplay and graphics features as technology evolves."
 
"Somewhere, over the rainbow....."

The sad thing is that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will probably be out faster then TF2.

Given the delay in product, I will try out the demo. If that looks good, good gameplay, AI, ect. I will then purchase the game.
 
belmicah said:
I really doubt it, considering how long ago they started to code for the game (probably around 01-02).
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Bloom was definitely in prior to release. I'm just not sure whether it was done via HDR or not. I'd guess it was pulled due to either difficulties with implementation or technical limitations, and I can't imagine either of these being a problem with non-HDR bloom.

EDIT: I think this is the trailer I had in mind. I can't download it right now, but the fact that the file's called source_hdr02.exe might be a bit of a giveaway...
 
Nice link. I guess I stand corrected on at least the capabilities, but if it was held back SOOOOOOO long, why would it not then have HDR implemented?

How come Source can be coded for Nvidia to have HDR and AA modes, but other games can't?
 
kuyaglen said:
Hopefully the devs are have things under control now for they say Q1 2007 at the end of the video, hopefully not as late as March. I wonder how my 8800GTX will hold upon 24" resolutions.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/s...6162089&autoplay=6162299&tag=topslot;action;1
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it should run fine, the engine is like 1 1/2 year old, I cant wait to play this, im a big chernobyl researcher so i want to see how well they portrayed the plant, it looks awsome in the pictures.
 
belmicah said:
Half-Life 2 would have been released much sooner too, had it not been for hackers. I remember people bought ATI cards just for a coupon that sat on their desk for a LONG time. When it finally came out, it was badass. I am amazed that the code was written years ago, not to mention they were able to recode for High Dynamic Range lighting.
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Errr...yeah, it's the hackers that delayed HL2...right...
 
belmicah said:
Nice link. I guess I stand corrected on at least the capabilities, but if it was held back SOOOOOOO long, why would it not then have HDR implemented?

How come Source can be coded for Nvidia to have HDR and AA modes, but other games can't?
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I think source has a different type of HDR, thats why AA can be used. I thought stalker did have HDR though.
 
THQ (the publisher) sent in some knee breakers a few months ago to make sure the game is finished soon. The Gamespot preview sounded like things are up and running at least.

A dev mentioned that one of their biggest problems was that they listened to the fans too much. Someone would mention something on a message board and they would work on it. A ton of stuff like sleeping/eating and vehicles have been removed completely from the game as they were not working.

Another big thing is that they are not comprimising the "A-Life" world simulation part of the game. Bethesda was trying to do something simular with its "Radiant AI" for Oblivion but they nerfed it down to nothing but an NPC schedule keeper.
 
Supposedly STALKER was about 75% done roughly 9 months ago, but I guess they got a new producer and he scrapped a lot of the micro-management features that made it unique. What's left of the game that will supposedly be out in '07 looks a lot like an outdoor version of FEAR. It looks very shadowy and dark.

Older games can still look like a million bucks, though. Like others have mentioned, Far Cry and HL2 look as good or better than anything else over the last few years. If you play either game on a system built in the last few months - jack the settings and find monitor that'll handle at least 1680X1050. I'll take those 2 "old" games over anything short of Gears of War graphically.
 
DejaWiz said:
When comparing Far Cry and Crysis, yes the new engine will put the old one to shame in terms of graphic realism. But IMO, Far Cry still looks damn good to this day. Especially with the 64bit updates. Might be some hope for STALKER if the graphics engine is capable of scaling well with current and future GPU hardware.
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Off-topic.

Does the 64 bit verson require using windows xp 64? or just a 64 bit processor?

On topic:

STALKER used to look stunning and I think even if it came out now it would be impressive due to gameplay (not so much graphics, especially with DX10 around the corner). I would probably buy it still...
 
I was excited about it... 2 years ago! After they took out a lot of really cool things, including co-op it was going to be just another FPS. Now with the delays it looks like a dated flop. It will be big poops if it comes out.
 
tornadotsunamilife said:
Does the 64 bit verson require using windows xp 64? or just a 64 bit processor?
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Will require a 64-bit OS - XP 64, or 64-bit Vista, whatever they call that.
 
The game looks very old graphics wise, especially the guns, though the faces look rather good.

I bet they'll start from scratch AGAIN because they'll finish it right before DX10 shows up and if they stopped making it because of DX9, why won't they stop again for DX10
 
cpt.whistlepants said:
I still have hope this game will break the linear gameplay that has plagued the FPS genre.
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That's exactly the reason why I am still looking forward to it. Everyone harps on the graphics, but I am still optimistic that we will be pleasantly suprised.

Everyone seems to have low expectations, so if it can prove to be on par when compared to more recent FPS like FEAR or Prey, it should do well.
 
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