Comments on: Games For 2008: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Clear Sky

By: Stromko

Stromko — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:26:21 +0000

I would be frustrated as hell by 90% of RPGs if I had to rely on autosaves only. That sounds like more of a way to add challenge than the way the developers intend you to play, as not every game is designed to live and die by automatic ‘checkpoints’. But I’ve also been annoyed lately by games that force me to save constantly or lose tons of progress, so I can kinda sympathize.

I don’t know what the hell someone would be comparing Stalker to in order to call the graphics bad, just playing the demo alone I was very impressed by the lighting. That demo was in Russian so I’m not sure if they released a U.S. demo offhand.

I hope this Clear Skies thing is more free-roaming than the first, but I’d actually appreciate a better weapon balance too. In the original STALKER they waste a lot of guns by giving them really inferior stats, while others are game-changing in power and accuracy for no logical reason. Why would I ever touch the Okoban when I’ve already got an M4?

Personally I would’ve preferred an array of guns at each ‘tier’ so I felt like I had more of a choice. Maybe if Clear Sky has this system where gangs get better equipment over time that also means you’ll no longer be able to go a little bit out of your way and get lots better weapons about 10 hour ahead of time, which kinda hurt the challenge and pacing imo.

By: Crispy

Crispy — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:17:11 +0000

“As for the bit I quoted – sounds like you hit the time acceleration key, actually, more than like a bug…”

Please… I’m not that stupid (or ignorant, if you like). This was my initial thought, but using those buttons made no difference.

And, I try to only use the area-to-area autosaves, so I basically had to do the entire first section again. It happened a few times after that and I had to revert to previous autosaves, but after you finish the first section you move between areas much more frequently so re-playing from a previous load point isn’t such a hassle.

By: Lightbulb

Lightbulb — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:18:26 +0000

“This all sounds rather familiar – GSC were promising all this the first time around. What are the chances they can pull it off this time?”

Considering what modders have done with the game without access to the source code or a proper SDK i think it could be much improved.

By: Luomu

Luomu — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:52:35 +0000

You can carry almost 60 kilograms without an exosuit. How much more do you want? Stop being such a packrat.

By: fluffy bunny

fluffy bunny — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 15:17:53 +0000

Optimaximal: It’s not Steam-only, the retail version will be published by Koch Media/Deep Silver.

By: Zeh

Zeh — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:25:39 +0000

Hello… Hello?

Thanks for this post. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. C.L.E.A.R. S.K.Y. is my most anticipated game of 2008. I can’t wait.

While I agree with some of the area limits (and the linear-ish progression of the main story – which you weren’t too forced into following) I really think the rest was perfect. Even the loadout limits and the inaccuracy of the initial weapons had their place… I think the curve in stats you got to enjoy as you got better equipment was good enough.

Also, you can kill the bar greeter guy with a grenade bouncing off the walls just before you enter the bar.

By: Optimaximal

Optimaximal — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:07:36 +0000

It’s a standalone game that is *currently* a Steam-only release because THQ dumped GSC.

The fact that they never patched even the simplest looping-dialogue bugs doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence in them supporting and patching their next product.

As mentioned in that ‘threequel to Soldiers: Heroes of WW2′ post, it’s a bloody game from the eastern bloc.
They never work ‘right’, rather they just work, meaning you just live with the broken interface, the engrish and the bugs because you know deep down it’s a much more innovative and clever game than anything a Western developer would ever release for fear of not selling anything (Ukranian developers are used to everything being pirated anyway – why bother chasing sales :) )

Finally, I just picked up Stalker last week for £5 from Zavvi/Virigin/Whatever its now called in an in-store offer. It’s not on the website, so if anyones interested, pop to your nearest store and see if they have it.
Now I just need to find time in my life/gaming schedule to actually play the damn thing.

By: Kareem

Kareem — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 07:51:14 +0000

I really hope this isn’t as buggy as the original game (which I never got past the first area in because of the myriad of bugged quests I encountered — enemies spawning only when I entered the area from a certain angle, messed up reactions by military, etc.). Is this a standalone game, by the way, or is it an expansion?

By: UncleLou

UncleLou — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:18:40 +0000

” considering I had to start again twice because ….the in-game clock suddenly started running the day/night cycles ten times faster, meaning if I didn’t eat every 10 seconds I died of starvation!”

Don’t you save your games? :p

As for the bit I quoted – sounds like you hit the time acceleration key, actually, more than like a bug…

Never had any real problems with Stalker myself – deliberately restarted after the first patch, but that was pretty much it – I admittedly have a reasonably high tolerance level for little niggles though if the game is great.

By: Muzman

Muzman — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:51:36 +0000

There’s a lot of criticsms to be levelled at Stalker, but bad graphics is a tough one. I’ve never seen anything like it and it’s beautiful. There’s a tendency of games in settings like that to slather on the decay wherever possible, extending it to the sky as well as everywhere else. I was (am) impressed by their restraint. They were confident enough in the engine to just let it do the work rather than be showy. Are there other games with radiosity/sky lighting this good where you can just wander around anywhere, in a wide variety of lighting conditions, colours changing, weather changing etc? Not very many I’ll wager (and someone should tell me about them so I can play them).
Something should be said about the design of the suits in particular. They seem like practical extrapolations of real military and survival gear, so much so I would have sworn they exist. But they don’t, not completely. They look like bits and pieces of current and experimental gear but subtly futuristic and combined in the Zone’s hot house. I’m impressed by that, and the regular looking dudes who populate the place.

By: Crispy

Crispy — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:17:56 +0000

@Inglorion: I’m fairly sure anyone who would have playtested that would have bugged it. Just because it’s been reported doesn’t always means it gets fixed. The first Stalker was already taking too long, hence why it was split into 2 (or more?) games. It’s likely that guy in the bar was bugged but it was waived by the team in view of hitting a ‘do-or-die’ scheduled release date.

That said, Stalker released with a lot of major, even showstopper bugs, so somewhere along the ‘test/fix/allocate time for fixes’ chain someone really screwed up. That guy in the bar was the least of my worries considering I had to start again twice because a) the door to the trader/questgiver got jammed shut and b) the in-game clock suddenly started running the day/night cycles ten times faster, meaning if I didn’t eat every 10 seconds I died of starvation!

I hope they take the time to make Clear Sky a relatively bug-free release otherwise I won’t be buying it at full release day retail price, I’ll wait until a patch has come out and I can be sure of a working game, by which time the price may have gone down, so the publishers/developers will effectively get less money for their sloppy release.

By: dhex

dhex — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:19:06 +0000

don’t just stand there – comment! comment!

sorry.

i was one of the lucky five in north america whose playthroughs of stalker – unpatched – were almost entirely bug-free.

i do like the float32 mod myself. didn’t have as much of a problem with the guns, etc, so i never really got into the modded stuff.