S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
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| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | GSC Game World |
| Publisher(s) | GSC World Publishing Deep Silver (Koch Media) |
| Distributor(s) | Valve (Steam) Koch Media |
| Engine | X-ray Engine 1.5 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date | August 29, 2008 [1] |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter Role-playing Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Media | DVD, Steam download |
| Input methods | Keyboard and mouse |
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the stand-alone prequel for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.[2] During E3, it was reported that the game will consist of a 50/50 mix of old remade/altered levels and totally new areas to explore. It will be released August 29, 2008. Also the game engine is being updated to v1.5 and will include DirectX 10 support. The AI is to receive an overhaul to accommodate the new "faction wars" feature; which will give players the opportunity to lead one of the eight factions to become rich and dominant.
The current tagline appears to be, as of writing, "What awaits you, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, in the Zone that changed?"
On Thursday, March 27, 2008, GSC Game World announced the release date is currently set for August 29, 2008.
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[edit] Leak
On May 27, 2008, the E3 game demo was released through torrent sites, and allowed users to play through the "Marsh" level, and witness the basic concept of factions.
[edit] Known details
According to an article in PC Gamer UK[3] and from a page on the GSC Game World Website:[4]
- The player assumes the role of a mercenary called Scar whose goal is to kill the Stalker Strelok. It is confirmed that you can't kill Strelok. But the player will be able to see him in the game, and the storyline is directly tied to him.
- Rather than having a linear plot (as with Shadow of Chernobyl) wars, territory capture, and fan-created missions will be included.
- The player can join one of nine factions and lead them to victory. Confirmed factions that are joinable are the Bandits, Duty, Freedom, Clear Sky, Mercenaries, Internal Troops (Military), Scientists, and Lone Stalkers.
- The game is still set in the Zone, so around half of the game's locations will have already featured in Shadow of Chernobyl (The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the Agroprom Research Institute, and the Red Forest are confirmed locales). The entire gaming Zone will consist of 50% completely new areas, and 50% twisted, pre-Shadow of Chernobyl versions of old areas, as well as some removed ones. One of the new locations is the Swamp, which will be large.
- There will be more anomalous activity than in the previous game (with new and more varied anomalies). The anomalies, artifacts, and their detectors will be greatly varied. For example, the detector will be a device that is held in one hand, while the other holds a small firearm, like a handgun. Long-barreled weapons such as rifles cannot be held at the same time as the detector. New mutants have been added, and old ones have been enhanced. Blowouts possibly going to be included (unconfirmed).
- The AI will be able to throw grenades. When the NPCs throw grenades, a yellow icon appears on your HUD, warning you. The developers decided to do this after a lot of people had trouble avoiding grenades.
- Beside the use of grenades, NPCs have become much more intelligent; they coordinate and work very well in groups, interact in groups, and with the player. At the Igromir gameshow, no one (including the developers) was able to kill more than two of four bandits armed with AKS-74Us and Sawn-Off Shotguns before dying.
- The AI now have day and night routines. Since smart terrain for the AI has been expanded, now the world can be physically interacted with.
- Weapons and armour will be repairable, and both will have a new upgrading system. There will be more new unique weapons. It will be possible to upgrade them very extensively in all categories by the player. Finding such weapons will be much more difficult. More ammo types (unconfirmed reports of 7.62x39mm hollow point and FMJ rounds being included). There are, of course, plans to add new weapons.
- There will be many more areas and locations, and there will be multiple paths to and through them. Fast travel is to be added to allow easier travel between areas. You can pay an experienced Stalker, like Guide from Shadow of Chernobyl to lead you through a short, but very dangerous path full of hazards from one area to another, in order to avoid having to run through the entire level.
- The engine has had a mass of modifications, almost to the point of being completely overhauled. The lighting has been almost completely overhauled (e.g. the nights will be darker and there is completely dynamic lighting, all light sources can be altered, shot, or diverted), and volumetric light has been added. The engine will support DX8, DX9 and DX10, keeping system requirements similar to the original. This cannot be confirmed until the game is shipped, however. The variety of animations has been greatly expanded. Enemies can blind-fire now and use cover in more ways than in Shadow of Chernobyl. The game will have more realistic looking weapons and more detailed player models and water effects. Your view focuses on your weapon when reloading, the background becomes blurred. Certain parts of the landscape will be destructible. There will be more dynamic objects.
- The developers are considering adding vehicles into multiplayer and though female characters are not officially planned, it is possible that they might appear over the course of development.
- One new mutant has been confirmed, the "Marsh Bloodsucker", who will be invisible. This bloodsucker was seen in the swamplands level, and has the ability to grab NPCs and the protagonist and throw them high into the air, before taking them back into the swamps to eat.
- The game will be available for both retail and digital download, but the digital download will be exclusively from Steam.
- This game will require the same system requirements as the previous game (S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl)
[edit] References
- ^ GSC Game World
- ^ "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Forming The Zone," Game Informer 178 (February 2008): 84.
- ^ PC Gamer UK September 2007 (Issue 178), page 19
- ^ GSC Game World Clear Sky Archive
