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

sounds like another shitty buggy game like Clear Sky...
The first Stalker game was awesome...but Clear Sky was buggy...
 
Shadow of Chernobyl was buggy too. Maybe not as bad, but it was still crash/stutter/lagtastic.
 
I mean, you did kill wish granter, didn't you?
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[spoiler:d38209244c]Well you had the possibility to destroy the monolith but in the end the real force of the zone was still left intact. That was until they gave Strelok the choice of either joining them or going against them. Even when Strelok's choice was to go to the bitter end there was no guarantee that the Zone ceased to exist. All you really saw was him eliminating the catalysts with his trusty AKSU and then doing some dirt angels in a crop field.

Bottom line: had the Zone been eliminated? I really doubt it- after all in it's essence it was a huge rift/disturbance in the natural order of things and you can't really eliminate such things so easily once it has begun. The C-consciousness was trying to contain it and with them gone I really think that the opposite is becoming true- without barriers the Zone is starting to expand, forcing the goverment to take action.[/spoiler:d38209244c]
 
Serge 13 said:
sounds like another shitty buggy game like Clear Sky...
The first Stalker game was awesome...but Clear Sky was buggy...
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And it was a shooter on rails from halfway to the end. Which killed it, basically. Still, it had awesome artifact hunting and weapon customization, really awesome.
 
i sure hope it takes more from the mods for the original than it does from Clear Sky.

i mean, everything starting from the forest was shit to me.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
The problem with Mass Effect ...
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We share similar opinion about completeness of some game.
It's a principle of design, not its realization in concrete example. It's not exclusive to have complete game and design it with sequels in mind. Good thing that some developers are aware of that as you say, I saw a fair share of stupid game decisions over the years.

@Marxus Tiamat
True and most likely. I liked original idea, but they, kind of, killed it [in one way or another] too soon imo. Point is, in a fictional world, only writer's imagination is a limit. It's a good and bad thing, depending on who is a writer and what his\her goal is. He/She can "take" us to another dimension [the "source" of anomalies, or something like that, broadening "gamestage" for a possible new content] or, tell a shallow story about skirmishers in swamps and ruined buildings. Latter is most probable from what I see. "Another dimension" thingy is harder to make because it would seek new resources and heavy redesign [Half Life is a vague example], result of original design: "we want fps around CPP"...
Meh. Philosophy and empty talk... We all know this one will be strait FPS without some noticeable depth under it. Strangely, I find it very familiar...
 
Hi grayx,

Well the thing that gets me is that developers these days think that that some titles are so great from the start that they automatically warrant sequels.
Let them make a good game first, than we talk sequel.

Take Fallout for example, I understood that Tim Cain never had a sequel in mind but rather than he wanted to create an RPG system that could be used for all kinds of themes.

I like Fallout 2 but it would have been interesting if this could have led to wide variety of RPGs, not just Post Apocalypse ones, but fantasy, space science fiction, time travel, wild west, gothic horror.
 
I'm glad I never played Clear Sky now. I seriously dug the original. I hope this is to that level.
 
Regaring the possible storyline hole:

[spoiler:5104bcb73d]C-con created the Zone, however it was unable to destroy, close or eliminate it. Instead, they decided to contain it. The monolith faction was created to guard the centre of the Zone, so was the brain schorcher. It all supposedly had a good reason, and not only to protect the scientists inside. As Strelok destroys the C-con's vats, he himself admits he doesn't know if what he did was right or wrong.

He certainly killed the people who wanted to control and contain the zone - what happens to the zone itself? I can only guess it goes out of control and the demons C-con tried to contain are now in the open. Perhaps the Zone ceases to be the hostile one we know from stalker the game, and becomes more enigmatic, as in stalker, the movie?
[/spoiler:5104bcb73d]

CS wasn't all that bad, but it abandoned the Stalker spirit, making the game a post-apo Call of Duty instead. If the devs integrate the great ideas from all the mods and watch the original stalker movie a few times, perhaps playthe original stalker, they may yet create a good game. [/list]
 
Great news indeed, but why does it remind me of Priboy story so much? Anyway Im probably going to buy it. As to CS I guess it could be said it made step forward and a step backward. Adding new weapon upgrade system, invisible radiation etc. What they went wrong with was linear path for story. Meaning only 1 way to exit swmp and closing off the rest with patch. Cutting monsters, weapons, areas, vehicles and simplifying the end part. Still the game is good and I do still play both. Currently the best mods for CS come from russian modding, that's no problem for me and they improve fast.
 
I'd like to think the zone in the games is the same zone as in Roadside Picnic and C-con was merely an attempt at controlling and exploiting it.

But then if that was the case the wish granter wouldn't have been a man made monolith it would be a rusty gold static orb accidentally tossed to one side by some unknown entity.

Well, I think it's time to read Roadside Picnic again.
 
Adding bit more info.
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.
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link to GSC thread http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t...game_type=xr&thm_page=1&thm_id=5199&sec_id=11
 
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