Possible S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Details in Magazine Fan Q&A

Information on this game has been floating around for at least a year or two now, and I’ve done a few posts on it too. Most of the stuff was probably just rumours though. As I recall, at the time these rumours suggested that the game would be called Stalker 3: Apocalyptic. And that info was also in Gameplay, the same as the info released now.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat was released over the past few months in different territories [at different times, from October until February this year]. So where to now?

It seems S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the answer, which we saw coming anyway. There was recently a fan Q&A with GSC head honcho Sergey Grigorovich, again for a Russian magazine called Gameplay. It’s all in Russian and sifting through Google’s version of English is painstaking to say the least.

It claims that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will be a trilogy of games, kind of like Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat were. Or if you want to put them in chronological order: CS, SoC, CoP. There. Happy?

It was once rumoured that GSC was considering switching to the CryEngine [Far Cry, Crysis, etc.] for use in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, but decided to stick with X-Ray – except possibly X-Ray 2.0 [CoP used X-Ray 1.6].

The reason they considered CryEngine was because it was felt it would make it easier to develop for consoles. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will be multi-platform – not just PC like the existing three games. There was word a while back that an Xbox 360 version was in the cards. People are concerned that this will mean a downward spiral for the series, as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is considered a “PC” title.

And although many other games are all about DLC nowadays, with the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package releasing for PC and PS3 this week even, it doesn’t look as though GSC is buying into the whole concept.

It also says that women will feature in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and not just male stalkers.

I once tried to break the subject of female stalkers in a forum thread, and my idea was shot down – with some claiming that they “wouldn’t survive”. Bunch of sexists.

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Sources: fan Q&A [world-stalker] - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 [TTLG]

Possible S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Details in Magazine Fan Q&A

More S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat news- This time in English…sort of

Freedom Day (S.A.)

After visiting the same forums at TTLG where the news was initially discovered by Bluesnews, I am happy to see that the conversation is still going on, and the guys there have put some scans of a featured article of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3, as it might have once been known as (incorrectly). Someone’s also gone to great lengths to translate from Ukrainian into English, it seems, and gives the lowdown on what we can expect from the next stand-alone expansion in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, as reported in an exclusive preview by Gameplay magazine recently.

The Scans:

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7692/86537633.jpg
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1526/40516931.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3734/56056584.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/797/92927807.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3969/83650557.jpg
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9508/92096315.jpg

The forum discussion and translation:

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126100

More S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat news- This time in English…sort of

The Wish Granter: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3

Cryptic Writings: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Apocalyptic

There have been rumours circulating over the past few months about another S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game being developed, referred to as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Apocalyptic. I took the liberty of translating a post from stalker-planet that was written in Russian, into English recently.

This article originally appeared quite a while back- in November last year, and I came across it recently, and had to translate it into English from Russian with Google’s help, and a few posts that I discovered in forums. If you don’t like the way it is translated into broken English on the actual site, then I have done my best to make it more legible here.

“S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Apocalyptic 

A source close to the developers at GSC talked about some plans for a 3rd part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

What is known at this time: 

Allegedly, GSC, under the strictest secrecy, began to develop the third part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 

At the moment, we are aware that the game will use a new engine. Among the candidates discussed, CryEngine 2 was mentioned in particular! 

The working name of the game seems to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Apocalyptic. Strictly speaking, this is supposed to be Part 2, given that Clear Sky is a prequel, but developers prefer to position the game as a 3rd part. We know that the game will either take place after the events of "Shadow of Chernobyl" as a logical extension of one of the endings (which is unknown), or will begin in parallel with the events of "Shadow of Chernobyl".

The concept of the game will undergo many changes. 

There will be many more locations (more than half of them will be bonus or optional locations), and the player will be able to change the plot while visiting them, which will give access to multiple endings. The player will be able to finish the game without even exploring half of the game.

The very atmosphere of the game will improve through the use of DX10 technology, which will be used for all coils (in this context, the question arises about the compatibility with XP). 

The game won't use separate maps, instead the areas will load dynamically.

Also scheduled, are interesting new twists depending on the level of difficulty selected.

Non-linear gameplay: the player will be able to reach a goal in different ways. 

Other features: 

There won't be definitive plot-centered missions. The player will decide what to do and how to act depending on the situation. 

Increased number of side-missions.

The Zone is now more dangerous, with new enemies, anomalies, mutants and bosses.

Bosses will have their own unique abilities, developing in the course of action. 

There will be new groups in the Zone as well, new factions and also foreigners (Americans, Germans, French). 

The economic component of the game has changed: a good gun and outfit will cost a lot of money.

Artifacts will be very costly too. 

Information will be the most expensive currency in the zone. 

Emergence of a new location: "Polygon" nuclear mines, and military.

Perhaps, the main character will have some additional features and functions.

Ability to recruit characters to perform a job, build up these groups and to manage them. 

Working vehicles 

The possibility of female characters in the Zone. 

Information, of course, is 100% unofficial and unverified.”

Whatever the case, if it's true or not, I just hope that they don't rush it like they did with the other games, SoC and CS. They need to take their time and finish it properly.

The Wish Granter: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3

What is it with all the post-apocalyptic themed games nowadays?

It seems that since the late 90s, we’ve been getting these post-apocalyptic themed games.

Think Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, Fallout 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and upcoming titles like the rumoured S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Apocalyptic and id’s Rage- and there are probably others I’m missing. 

Don’t get me wrong, I like these games. They’re usually very immersive and they have great stories and settings, and most of them have an RPG type gameplay to them that works well.
But think of this, why do some games have goals of building an empire, and others of destroying it? Is it because it’s a popular issue nowadays what with war raging all over, especially between Palestine and Israel, or Darfur, and Iraq? Is it because so many rave about it being the ‘end times’ and that we’re all doomed to a future of nothingness? 

Perhaps this is the only possible outcome for us, humankind destroying itself, wasting away into nothing after all the pain and misery it has wreaked upon this earth that some say it was bound to protect, but we were cursed, and damned right from the beginning.

What is it with all the post-apocalyptic themed games nowadays?