Does anybody know when this game is slated for release? I'm scanning the site and all I can find is late 2004, so unless I missed something big that is an invalid release date.

There is no release date since it was delayed... *insert many, many finish swears*

I want this game more then any other game in existance, I would sell all my games just to have Stalker. Heck, you don't want to know how far I'd go...

Last I heard was May, but then that date got delayed too

Its a fun game.

/me stabs Yoshi yet again.

he's doing his not so subtle 'i have played it' thing.

This isn't fanboy speech, but I'm starting to see a great decrease in graphics since their original stuff. It seems some objects are dynamically lit while others are static, etc. Not to mention, the idea seems very... repetative. I can't see new gameplay comming into this that isn't some crappy MMO gimmick like perks and whatnot.

What happened to games that were just FUN. Like Counter-Strike is timeless. You don't NEED to update as soon as an expansion comes out for it. The same with monkey island, or jak, etc. Why do we need to make a game so specific that you can TELL there will be an expansion that doesn't do anything more (This is specifically on the MMO platform) than add something to keep me paying for the game?

To me, it seems like they're trying to make a first person shooter for a wider audience which will gain them longterm profit, even if players DON'T pay online fees.

JediKirby

How can you say a non scripted game which features a truely living world, repetative?

I'm playing the devil's advocate here, but doesn't life get reptitive too? And I'd say that's the most unscripted thing of all...

it's unscripted, okay, but the same things will happen over and over and over, with variations. drama comes from scripted events in games, and a game that is entirely undramatic is probably not going to be, by any means, epic or compelling. That's what I like in games and movies.

You suck.

You can have absolutelly unscripted events and still have repetition. Read:

Run into the woods. Find a monster. Shoot it till it dies. Take it's belongings. Get jumped by another stalker. Shoot him till he dies, or die. Return to town and trade items you got from the stalker. Repeat.

I think the only thing that'll keep it entertaining is that gun fights can be totally original each time, unlike the same gameplay with MMOs and there's no variation asside from the sort of spell you cast. In an MMO, it's pretty much 'range vs melee' and then damage is the final factor. This might have fun shooting, but unless there's some sort of user-controlled aspect of the game, not much is going to change the fact that a gun fight with an AI is only as fun as the first time.

JediKirby

right-o

For some reason I thought this thread was going to be about me...

I'm still really looking forward to the game and can't wait to play it.

I think some of you are possibly missing the point....

the game is going to have this living enviroment as the back drop for missions, just imaging you played HL2 but the world around you had the types of stuff stalker is aiming for...

there will probably still be a plot, aims to achieve that vary the gameplay and take you to areas you wouldn't otherwise reach.

i'm sure/hopeful it isn't just one huge map that you focus on separate bits for the missions...guess we'll have to wait and see.

You totally have no idea what you're talking about as far as the game goes. You forget about the boobie traps, the vehicles, the fact that there IS indeed a plot, the ability to team up with others, the differing types of monsters, etc.

I haven't really been following this game closely, so I'm rather unhyped. The little things I've heard sound interesting though.

Wait, since when is it an MMO? I thought it was just single-player with really great AI.

It is single player.

I'll rather listen to Duke Nukem 3D's Stalker.

By MMO I really ment massive multiplayer offline. With AI.

That's not multiplayer. :p

He does. Aside from "there IS indeed a plot", everything you've mentioned does not take away from the repetitive action that would exist in the game WITHOUT a plot... The plot is what will drive the gameplay, apparently. I didn't know how much plot or storyline there was going to be, but you're obviously a little better educated on the development than I. kIRBY's just saying that despite teaming up, different monsters, vehicles, traps, scripted events ARE pretty much required. Otherwise, you'll have the same hunt shoot kill team up buy sell hunt kill run explode hunt run trap sell shoot buy kill over and over with diff. variations. That's what Freelancer is like after you complete the campaign. You can play indefinitely, but it gets old very fast without scripted events driving you and compelling you.


Hooah?

Exactly.

I want that repetitive action. We just like different games.

there are so many games i wish had bots...

But we don't know how long the gameplay will last, how many different missions there will be, how many different alignments and stances you could take. I'm looking to this as being the next Deus Ex. Seriously.

But I agree that it COULD be like that. The chances of it becoming lame and repetetive and boring quickly are slim, IMO, though.

The GTA games are unscripted (when you're not doing missions), and they don't get repetitive. The reason for that is because they have variation in gameplay. Freelancer doesn't; as open-ended as it is, all you really have the option of doing is flying around and shooting stuff. In GTA, you can drive around, run around, shoot stuff, fly around, drive and shoot stuff, etc. if Stalker is at all similar (which it claims to be, to an extent anyway), then I don't see how it could get repetitive as fast as you guys are worried about.