S.T.A.L.K.E.R Interview

03 Sep 2008 at 14:53:36 by Andy Alderson

We all know S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and with the new game, Clear Sky, just around the corner from release, we managed to nab Oleg Yavorsky (Senior PR Manager GSC Game World)  to talk to us about the game, how it's progressed and how it fits into the game's overall story.  If you've not seen it, or are thinking of picking it up, why not read our review?

Clear Sky is set prior to the events of Shadow of Chernobyl (SOC). Why did you choose to make a prequel? Will Clear Sky fill in some of the gaps in Strelok's story?

The plan to make a prequel appeared right before the Shadow of Chernobyl release. By that time we already knew which features would be good to implement into future projects and what should be done to make the game better. Also we realised that many questions in the game’s storyline were left open. The S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s game world is so profound that the player didn't get the whole understanding of its laws and history. We decided to fill in those gaps and tell the players more about the Zone and it's inhabitants and the best way for that to make a prequel.


How is The Zone in Clear Sky different from that in SOC? How do these differences affect gameplay?

Some aspects of the gameplay were changed very much. For example artifact search.  In Clear Sky some anomalies are completely invisible and the artifacts in them also.  You need to use some sort of detector to find a safe route inside the anomaly fields and got the artifact. So a two handed HUD was added when you carry a detector in one hand and a bolt or one-handed weapon in another. At this time negative powers of anomaly field affects you and you are a good target for enemy stalkers, so you will need good protective suits and equipment for that.

We added the possibility of upgrading weapons so you could improve the weapon you like in many characteristics like accuracy, distance, magazine capacity etc. You can also repair your weapon and protective suit.


One of the most interesting features of SOC was its A-life AI system. How has this evolved in Clear Sky?

I would like to say that in general AI was improved a lot. Both combat and idle modes were improved. But the most significant thing done is implementing living factions. They changed from just guys sitting at the campfire into a group of people with their own living camp, leader, trader, mechanic, ideology, interests, enemies and missions. It's a completely new level of living game world. You will see an interaction in team combat, bypassing of dynamic objects, ability to throw grenades, adequate reaction to contusion, blinding, damage etc.


SOC reportedly had a long, troubled development period. What did you learn from that?

Owing to the experience of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. we see the right ways to develop the game brand further. Firstly, not all of the features were implemented to the limits of their potential, we believe the ideas vested in the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. were just the beginning and are excited to bring each of those features to a new level. Secondly, we’ve got a big spur from the game‘s fans, we know all the likes and the dislikes about SoC and develop Clear Sky with this feedback in mind. Clear Sky is going to be a step forward in practically every aspect, and now done from the perspective of immense experience gained by the team through years of previous S.T.A.L.K.E.R. development.


Did making Clear Sky allow you to revisit some features you were unable to include in SOC?

Clear Sky will offer the player many more possibilities and freedom — unrestricted movement between locations, availability of a huge number of missions, various weapon and suit upgrades, real "stalker-like" searching for artifacts, life of proper faction bases — these are only some of gameplay changes, which do not even affect the storyline. There are also some things in store for the explorers. For instance, there are places in the locations that you would not find by merely following missions. Only explorers of The Zone will be able to find them. That said there are conditions that must necessarily be met. One of them is that completion of the storyline of Clear Sky has to coincide with the beginning of the original game. To achieve this there is a point of no return at the end of the game. After all, the storylines of both games must form a single story.

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