25th April 2005, 7:09 PM
Quote:In equal periods blowout waves of gravitational nature together with an increased psychotropic influence pierce the Zone. It is deadly dangerous to stay in the Zone at that time. A man without special equipment dies immediately. The ground starts shaking with a number of flashes to follow. The sky gets glowing and the whole world is black-and-white. The eyes can't withstand the blinding sun. During the blowouts, one can see phantom formations and haze in the places of gravitational formations.
Zone. Lake Amber. Blowout.
Booming earthquake and flashes of lightning. The sky gets covered with black boiling clouds. The stalker hardly makes it for the house and the blowout sets in. Prolonged tremor shakes the house, sprinkles the dust, garbage falling off the shelves. The room is lit up by an extremely bright flare which seems to last forever. The world goes two-coloured. Through the open door the stalker can see a dead dog, lying on the ground. A violent gale hurls the garbage sprinkling clouds of the dust. The toughest moment of the blowout is coming. The earth goes mad, the light is beyond all bearing� flashes of lighting with things trembling on the floor. The stalker hides in the corner of the room covering his eyes. And now is the moment of the blowout peak. The last and the most devastating tremor shatters the ground breaking the trees and making the world go dark for a moment. And then very bright light and howl of the insane Zone make the stalker pass out...
Quote:Anomalous zones pose great danger to stalkers. Getting into an anomalous zone nearly always results in instant death. There is only one way to oppose such zones, that is to avoid them! A problem here is to detect an anomalous zone, for the majority of them are invisible and can be detected with special devices or by inconspicuous indications.
Gravity concentration
Gravity field with differently directed acceleration.
Tears entrapped living creature apart.
Visual indicators:
* Dents in the ground
* Bent metallic objects
* A stone thrown inside a gravity concentration patch changes flight trajectory
Rusty hair
All the metal grates and rods acquire rusty hair through time. Touching rusty hair causes the body to smoke and blacken.
Fog
Unprepossessing fog corrodes skin, hair, eyes, leaving a scorched corpse. Getting into fog without protective suit or oxygen mask leads to death.
Meat-mincer
A trap which gradually stocks a charge, discharges on a living being and on a special device - discharger. It is absolutely harmless when uncharged.
Quote:There is a wide range of vehicles introduced in the game, from a car to helicopter. Most of the machinery can be used to move around the Zone and transport things faster. You may purchase, find or snatch it away. All vehicles require fuel.
Quote:World
The world of the Zone is a huge derelict territory of half-ruined buildings unruffled for 20 years, woodlands and anomalous greenery. The Zone world features neglected underground and ground laboratories, dead military bases and proving grounds for new technologies. Radioactive land is covered with ulcers of scorched earth, poisonous fogs, deadly gravitational anomalies. This is the world of a disastrous industrial and ecological catastrophe. And in the hub of this man-caused hell the wreckage of Chernobyl atomic facility rests.
We create the Zone based on reconstruction of Chernobyl atomic power plant and the 30-kilometer zone around it. Players, while progressing through the game, will see the Dead Forest, cities of Pripyat' and Chernobyl, sneak inside the Chernobyl atomic facility sarcophagus, go through the memorable areas, really existing in the epicentre of the tragedy to have occurred some 16 years ago.
We do our best to reproduce the atmosphere of industrial and ecological catastrophe of Chernobyl in detail, so, undeniably, all the zone sights will be easily recognizable. Photos and video materials acquired during our trip to Chernobyl provide ample of information to meet this very purpose, ensuring the textures and architecture are of utmost realism.
Gameplay
The player travels over immense world of the Zone, its all locations joined into one global map. He can choose any route and will not be limited in his traversing the Zone. The player will be offered free exploration full of generated and scenario-imposed tasks, participation in the eerie events of a murky world.
The player will become a stalker, a guy who earns money from shoveling embers out of infernal oven of Chernobyl Zone. Returning from the radioactivity-blazing Zone, he will sell anomalous formations to underground dealers and scientists in research camps on the Zone border.
With the money procured, the player will purchase equipment, weapons and protective suits allowing him to reach previously inaccessible areas.
This is a role-playing game without growing experience of your character, without changing characteristics and levels. We want the player to develop his real mastery, moreover Stalker is an FPS/RPG game and much depends on his ability to fight. Changing characteristics, levels and player's experience, to our mind, would destroy the realism we try to create. As far as the rest is concerned, this is almost a normal RPG game where players travel the Zone, collect artifacts, weapons, reveal anomalous zones, communicate and trade with NPCs etc.
Artificial Intelligence
We see AI in our game as a system of realistic character behaviour. Game characters live in a world the player can only drop into, they have their own joys and sorrows. We thoroughly work out artificial intelligence for the player never to feel artificiality of the happening. This principle basically refers to our approach in general, and not only to efforts on AI. We work out all the possible actions of the player and prepare natural reaction of characters to them. As character would react in life, so as he should react in the game. If the player attacks and kills one of the guards, the rest will go to seek hiding, radio their headquarters, and won't stand still, or what's worse, run out towards the player.
Communication with NPCs
The Player's communication with the game characters will serve an essential part of the gameplay. By means of communication the player will find out important information, acquire tasks, trade or make deals to accomplish a task co-operatively. Apart from humans, the player will also be able to communicate with sapient mutant creatures.
The game will be strongly influenced by communication and NPCs' attitude towards the player. For example, under a bad attitude, trader will refuse to trade or will charge an exorbitant price, and stalkers will open fire as soon as they recognise the player.
Trade
Trade will be realistic, as you are given a chance to purchase, exchange or sell everything: ammunition, equipment or artifacts. You can trade with the army, dealers, stalkers and scientists. To give you an idea how this will look in the game: the player comes across with a veteran stalker in the Zone, they greet each other, agree to remove weapons, then come closer to each other and start trading. They exchange phrases through a communication system. Soviet roubles will go in the game as the currency.
Quote:The whole world living its own life:
* Man-made calamity, corrupt nature, psychological and physical threats, anomalies, odd deadly phenomena, mutated creatures, stalkers, military cordons, scientific camps.
* Vast territory of the Zone.
* Absolute freedom of movement with imperceptible level loading.
* Dynamic day-night switching system
* Dynamic weather effects as rain, wind, fog, etc.
* Generation of events, tasks, artifacts
* Anomalous energy blowouts, peaks of anomalous activity, migrating anomalies.
* Anomalous areas
Unique creatures and characters:
* Unique abilities of creatures as group intellect, telepathy, telekinesis etc.
* Behaviour and life simulation for creatures and characters.
* Characters and creatures move around under control of global intellect.
* Impressive script.
* Non-linear storyline.
* Several endings of the game.
* Events happening regardless of the player's actions.
* Game time system
Equipment
* over 30 types of weapons
* Unique weapons and their influence on enemy.
* Weapon upgrades.
* Devices and protective suits.
* Trade in weapons, artifacts and equipment.
Engine:
* 300.000 - 3.000.000 polygons per frame
* Dynamic shadows and lighting
* Characters are correctly shaded by objects
* Powerful physics engine, i.e controlling vehicles, detailing objects, bullet ballistics, skeleton animation, etc.
* Realistic AI, i.e characters' behaviour is adequate to environment and events happening around. Soldiers patrol the Zone perimeter. Stalkers travel the Zone independently of the player collecting anomalous formations, trading, communicating and fighting. Mutants increase their population, migrate in Zone, eliminating stalkers, soldiers and each other.
* Motion capture animation
Quote:"...We rejected the linear level-to-level passage in favour of such freedom of action and movement as seen in 'Elite', 'Daggerfall' and 'Fallout'. Players will travel an immense territory of a zone stretching for 30 square kilometers, explore it, gain money and experience, move along a free "non-stiff" story line towards the game final..."
If all that doesn't make at least a little bit excited, then there's simply no hope for you.
Sometimes you get the scorpion.