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[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Remember S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? The game that I mentioned some considerable time ago?

Well, there's some new screenshots on the official homepage, and my don't they look special...

(IMG:http://www.stalker-game.com/download/gallery/screenshots/sb_xray_37.jpg)

In case you missed it, 3D Gamers.com provided a downloadable video of the game way back in November, you can download it from here

[DanMaggot]

This Looks very pretty. I bet it needs a Pig of a machine to run though. What engine?

Devastation was once looking special but appears instead to be somewhat flawed.

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

I never got around to playing Devastation, that used the Unreal 2 engine, didn't it? I noticed there was a multiplayer demo, but never got around to testing it out.

As for the engine, it is mentioned on Stalker-game.com, and I've quoted it below:

QUOTE

X-Ray Engine X-Ray is a powerful game engine implementing modern technologies. The engine does not support software rendering and requires any DirectX® 8 or higher compatible accelerator. Common: Levels combining closed spaces as well as enormous open areas One demand loading makes possible tcreate single huge level Game time flow, change of time of the day Powerful skeleton-based animation allows usage of motion-capture hardware and produces smooth and realistic motion of characters VR-Simulation engine optimized for massive payload Render: Support for all D3D compatible accelerators, starting from 2nd generation (TNT/Voodo2/etc), optimized for Geforce2 and up. Visualization optimized for hardware TnL (both FF and shading capable parts) Continuous level of detail technology for all the geometry ~300 000 polygons per frame at 60 fps on average hardware Detailed character models (500-10 000 polys) High-speed blended animation system capable of up tinfinity number of bone interpolation & modulation SSE/3Dnow! Technologies used for skinning and forward kinematics Visibility determination Portal-style, non-linear subdivision based visibility detection system Optimized for T&L hardware in the way of grouping primitives tlarge-size batches Dynamic occlusion culling, contribution culling Adaptive hardware state caching technology Lighting Colored dynamic lights and dynamic "soft" shadows Breakable light sources Animated lights Character shadowing Intelligent light sources selection, clipping, merging Detail mapping Water, flares, coronas, etc. Particle system with real physics Screen post-processing Shading Shader library is central tevery part of your rendering pipeline Completely abstracts the graphics API. Multi-pass Rendering Fallback Shaders Facilitates cross-platform development Separates shader writing from engine development Pixel and Vertex shaders automatically used on shading capable hardware Detail objects: Grass, small stones, etc. Traces, Wind, Reaction tpressing, Turbulent flows Physics: Based on ODE engine Simulation speed outperforms commercial engines such as MathEngine, Havok, etc. Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc. Collision database with low memory usage Collision detection optimized for large number of queries in highly polygonal environment ballistic, motions, fluid engine, snow, rain, explosions, etc. Sound: High quality HRTF 3D-sound with clipping and partial wave tracing Occlusion, obstruction, different environments (WIP) "Low-penalty" & "low-delay" reaction technology (less then 1ms tstart HRTF 3D Sound Source tplay) Context-relative multiple-mixed music streams in MP3/MP2/WMA/ADPCM formats Network: Distributed computing Client-Server based system Tools In-house made tools (Level, Shader, Particle, Actor Editors) Plug-ins for popular modeling packages AI: Simulation Level-Of-Detail and Culling (2 AI models - high and low detail) Fiber based time distribution allows tbuilt scalable AI without any slowdown Virtual sight, hearing and feeling Terrain reasoning with tactical assessment FSM with random factor Data driven design (pattern based evaluation functions are automatically generated and optimized on training examples - supervised learning)

I look forward to seeing the recommend specs for this one, I only bought this PC last August, wonder what will need replacing...

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

There's a good interview over at Gamers Hell - part of which promises:

QUOTE

We have rejected linear gameplay, in favor of letting the player do what he wants and go where he feels like. Examples of such approach could be games like Elite, Daggerfall è Fallout. The player will traverse an immense 30 sq. km world of the Zone, earn money and build up his personal skills. In other words he will follow a very flexible storyline towards the end of the game

Rejecting linear gameplay... after Unreal 2, this can only be a good thing...

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

So, apparently this game is coming out in the later stages of the year, until then you have the joy of me linking to various items that I think look pretty...

For instance these 12 new screenshots and these - it all looks so very pretty....

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

There's a particuarly lovely interview at The Adrenaline Vault, which contains more info on the game that I've chosen to follow with great interest (which means it'll be a flop, forcing me to sell my PC and go back into hiding)

QUOTE

Why have you billed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as an action-RPG? There's more to that: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a survival action-RPG. For us, the gameplay is mainly about surviving in the Zone by selecting the right equipment, moving cautiously, avoiding fights with stronger enemies and overcoming the first things to accompany a newbie stalker - hunger and injuries. Ammo isn't available in abundance in the Zone. Any stalker knows it's easier to go around a wandering pack than kill its members. Stalker isn't a commando; his first goal is to survive, not to eradicate everything. In the spots of the highest anomaly concentration, it's dangerous to even breathe, whereas a reckless move can lead to immediate death. The player takes the role of a stalker - this is the key role-playing aspect of the game. His position and reputation depend solely on the player's actions. He participates in the life of the Zone by exploring it, communicating with other residents - including scientists, dealers and other stalkers - exchanging information, getting quests and reaping rewards.

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Me again :D

This time I bring you news of a contest that could see your name in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. credits, if you're creative at all... rules me out...

STALKER - Monster Ball Contest

Come with a monster that fits into the game. Supply at least the following information (the more, the better):

1. Detailed description of the monster (supply a sketch or a drawing if you can).
2. Detailed description of the method of movement for the monster.
3. Detailed information on monster characteristics, behavior and places of habitation.
4. Detailed legend of the monsters creation in the zone.
5. Detailed information on methods and types of actions that monster can have on others in the Zone.
6. Detailed information on combat tactics of the monster, how it defends itself, how it attacks.
7. Detailed description of how to fight the monster, how to win, how to capture and destroy.

Rules:
1. Send your material to news@oblivion-lost.com with the subject "Monster Ball Contest".
2. We will check them and then post them.
3. Others can critique and give you advise. You can then take their suggestions and revise.
4. You have to send in the final version before the 10th of September 2003.

After we publish the final versions, we will have a jury judge them. The jury will include members from GSC. The winner will get the monster into the actual game, the author's name will be in the "makers of the game credit", he'll receive the game signed by the developers, a poster, and other marketing materials. The top 5 will get a free signed box with the game.
It ends on Sep. 30, 2003. Final monsters have to be posted on Sep 10.

Additional info:
We need your full name, your email address and the creature's name.
Send in your information broken into 7 points described above. Very important. This makes it a lot easier to judge. Don't combine the 7 points.

All 7 points have to be described. Take care to describe everything in detail because your ideas will be used to create the monster in the game. The more information you give, the better and easier it is for the developers. You can send in several monsters, however only one monster will be implemented.

Send plain .txt, no .doc files. You will get a confirmation when we process your email. If we can't publish it, we will respond and tell you why.

We will not format or edit your texts for correctness. Send in properly formated and edited text

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Well, there's a new trailer demonstrating some of the finer aspects of this game out now, you can download it from IGN.com, or Gamers Hell and my it does look quite good (but then, for the amount of time I've been following this game, I'm not going to say any different, am I?)

The trailer weighs in at 66MBs and runs (Hi-res) for roughly five minutes.. It's rather good too..

[Ordep]

Tis looking promising I must say Mr P.

Looking like a 3D gamers paradise.

[Lermontov]

Don't know about S.TA.L.K.E.R. But If either of you are interested in 'Devastation' I noticed that 'Game' are selling it in their sale with a whopping 75% off! I've never played it as it doesn't really appeal - just seems the kind of game that's going to be accompanied with music by Sepultura clones etc. and I just don't fancy that sort of headbang!

[DanMaggot]

I remember really looking forward to Devastation.....until reviews started coming out and it turned out to be a pretty flawed affair. But it Looked so nice in the build up.

Which is why I'm looking forward to this Stalker game with hope, anticipation and....nervousness.

[Lermontov]

There have been a lot of disappointing releases in the past few months, in my opinion, Dan. Devastation being just one of them. I wait with much eagerness for Half-Life 2, Doom 3 (it is 3 isn't it?) and Thief 3 - the first two Thief games are classics never really given their due, to which the likes of Splinter Cell and even TRAoD with it's stealth mode now owe a great deal too. You can go through the first two Thief games without killing a single enemy! Now THAT's discipline! I've never managed to do it, though! After a while my trigger (or bow) finger just gets too darn itchy! Chaser is providing me with lots of letting off of steam at the moment - bring 'em on! S.TA.L.K.E.R. does look very promising, though!

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

The first two Thief games were top-notch stuff, never managed to get very far without killing someone... it's just too tempting, they can't see you, you've got a clear shot, and nobody will know any different... maybe I'm just evil...

Anyway, there's a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video out (available from Worthplaying) which isn't as long or as interesting as the previous effort, but still manages to show off the games rather lovely looking graphics. There's also some new screens in the gallery that can be found on the Home page.

[Ordep]

Keeping Mr Pigs end up, so to speak, whilst he's of sunning himself & fighting of those sharks,
Heres a few more screens of his favourite game in progress.

Click here

[Ordep]

An updated homepage + more screen-shots.