S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : le résumé du chat

GameKult avait organisé hier un chat sur IRC avec des membres de la devteam de S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost. Précisément, étaient présents le Game Designer, le Lead Designer, le Project Manager, le développeur de l’IA, un type qui s’occupe du son et un attaché de presse. En face, il y avait une centaine d’interlocuteurs pas toujours attentifs.

GameKult a publié son résumé de la discussion (il est également disponible en anglais) avec une sélection de 94 questions. De son côté, le fan-site Oblivion-lost.com reproduit le log édité de la discussion. Nous nous situons au milieu, puisque nous vous proposons un bref résumé des principales informations issues des débats, puis, plus bas, le log avec les 113 questions (en anglais uniquement) classées par thèmes.

Les nouvelles informations :

• La vidéo de gameplay promise depuis des mois est prévue pour dans pas trop longtemps (ce qui est suffisamment vague pour nous faire patienter encore quelques semaines, voire plus)
• Une partie des dialogues seulement sera doublée
• Nous leur avions déjà posé la question l’an dernier, et les développeurs du jeu ne savent toujours pas s’ils vont y mettre des filles ou pas
• En solo, le système de sauvegarde changera selon le niveau de difficulté du jeu.
• Les monstres n’ont pas d’odorat et ne peuvent pas voir à travers les obstacles
• Une visée réaliste (façon Operation Flashpoint) devrait être proposée si tout va bien
• Il y aura des véhicules en multi
• Par contre, ça semble mal parti pour un mod coopératif, puisque GSC Game World hésite toujours à l’intégrer dans le jeu. Les derniers à avoir eu cette réaction, c’étaient Gearbox à propos d’Halo PC (qui n’a jamais eu de mode coopératif)
• Un changement de nom n’est pas exclu
• Le jeu est toujours prévu pour le deuxième trimestre 2004
• Il n’y a pas de version console prévue pour l’instant
• Il n’y a pas d’annonce pour la bêta, et GSC ne sait pas quand il y aura une démo, ni même s’il y en aura une
• Le moteur du jeu n’est pas terminé : si la partie DirectX 8.0 est terminée depuis belle lurette, la partie DirectX 9.0 est toujours en développement, de même que le moteur de rendu des effets aquatiques.

Avec tout ça, nous sommes un peu dubitatifs : ils veulent sortir leur FPS dans 3 ou 4 mois et ils n’ont toujours pas terminé leur moteur, ni décidé de ce que leur jeu contiendra ? C’est un peu se foutre de la gueule du monde. Quant au coop, son éventuelle absence risque de beaucoup décevoir. [–SUITE–]La discussion complète, en anglais et par thèmes.

GAME

Q: can you tell us of a few symptoms of radiaton sickness that the player will experience if he gets too exposed?
A: from time to time player will experience fatigue (visual effects)
to cure radiation sickness you’ll need to take antirad pills or sip vodka
sleeping can also help to cure it a bit

Q: Will we have metal nuts to detect anomalies as seen in STALKER the movie ?
A: we will have metal bolts for detection
bolts look better and easier to spot:)

Q: What will be the concrete anomalies in the zone ?
A: as for anomalies, we can give just a few examples – gravitational anomaly, galantine and others

Q: Will there be many differents endings depending on our in game action
A: we are planning over 8 different endings. It will depend on youê style of the game and the volume of information you manage to collect

Q: Hi, I »m Megamat From Focus-stalker.com the french fan site, I would like to know how the dialogues between NPC and Stalker will be managed ?
A: Hi Megamat. Part of dialogues will be voiced, part of them will go in text

Q: Will the number of bots be unlimited?
A: in single-player the number of bots is unlimited, there will be constant in-flow of them in the game

Q: will the player have some kind of character sheet with stuff like vitals, radiation contamination level, skills, statistics (game area % discovered, number of kills, etc)?
A: We will have four characteristics for the player to keep track of his character’s condition. that includes health, hunger, fatigue and radiation

Q: Heya GSG guys. Netsabes from NoFrag here. Last year, you told us you were still wondering whether or not including some girls in the game. Did you made up your mind ?
A: Hi! We are still voting within the team, part demands girls in, part is against:) We’ll see

Q: can we at least expect SOME kind of nudity? like russian porn magazines from the « 80s lying around or something?
A: there was no such thing as porno magazines back in the 1980’s. but if you send us some will scan them and stick them in for you 🙂

Q: Beyond pills againts radiations, will there be anabolsants, drugs to extend speed, resistance, even temporarely?
A: Beyond pills there will be some medicine available.

Q: physics in STALKER is good but will we be able to injure an ennemy making fall a heavy object from hight?
A: physics: yes, a heavy object falling from height on the enemy will certainly injure him or kill.

Q: will radiation be capable of reviving freshly dead bodies ?
A: no, radiation can’t revive.

Q: are you planning to add a XP , level up system to the game , to make it more addictive?
A: no XP and levelling-up planned. Does not fit the game concept.

Q: will there be an automap that gets completed as you discover new areas?
A: The map will work as automap getting more completed as the player will discover new areas.

Q: will there be any secondarial quest ?
A: In the game we will have key-quests (imposed by storyline), and the rest will be randomly generated, i.e. secondary

Q: will it be possible to put stuff somewhere and to regain it later ? (in lockers or just in plain grass)
A: The stuff can be put somewhere and the player will have the possibility to regain them if only somebody will not find them

Q: Will be there a lot of civilians ? There will are stalkers,the dealers and… that »s all ?????
A: There will be stalkers, dealers, military and other people

Q: In solo mode, does the save function works by checkpoints, limited saves or simply save at any time ?
A: The saves system will be different in different difficulties

Q: Did the latest day/night cyclus show DX 9 footage?
A: The latest day/night trailer contained 8x direct

Q: is the game taking place just in the Chernobyl area ? Will it be possible to enter in the power plant ?
A: There will be tehe possibility to enter the power plant

Q: Where will we start the game?In the Zone?Or near the Zone but not in ?
A: the game will be started in the Zone

Q: Will the game be composed by a lot of optionals events ?
A: The game will be filled by teh optional events

Q: As every game will be unique, will it be possible to pass completely through the STALKER acronym thing ? or are some points of the scenario unmissable ?
A: Many events could be missed during the playing

Q: can the player become a mutant?
A: Yes, but not in the game :))))))

Q: Would they be any sequel (like disease, etc…) after a contact with a monster (in a hand to hand fight for exemple).
A: something like monster poison, unlikely

Q: That game will be linear and scripted like Call Of duty or free like Deus EX or GTA ?
A: the gameplay will be more likely morrowing and fallout (we mean the freedom)

Q: will there be a tutorial ? Will it be possible to skip non interactive sequences ?
A: non interactive sequences cuoldn’t be skipped, because there will be no non interactive sequences in teh game

Q: about physics : will we be able to lift some objects ? hold them in (both) hand ? or the nly thing will be moving them by bumping into it ?
A: Neary all phisical object can be moved and pulled (furniture, bodies…)

Q: What about the relations with the others characters ?
A: the relations will depend on teh situation and the player’s actions

Q: Will we can choose our answer when we »ll talk to NPC ?
A: Yes

Q: will there be a good/bad guy side according to actions we take in the game ? will it influence npc reactions ?
A: The player could choose to be good or bad guy.

Q: Will we can to kill the dealer ? Will he be always alone ?
A: the dealer has taken care of his security

MONSTERS

Q: will monsters see the player hiding behind an obstacle or lying in the grass?
A: As for monsters sight: they will not see through the obstacles, in the grass they won’t be able to see clearly..i.e.monsters don’t cheat with vision and hearing

Q: Speaking about creatures eating cadavers, I wonder if there is some decomposition of them ?
A: bodies will decompose. but monsters will prefer fresh corpses

Q: will monsters smells things ? (ie will they smells us even if we are hidden ?) if so will there be some stuff to disguise our smell ?
A: Monsters will not have smell.

Q: How many kind of monsters could we see in the Zone ?
A: can’t give exact number of monsters yet, but you will not feel alone:)

Q: How the spawn of monster is managed?
A: Monsters breed and come from the Zone center

Q: Will we see monsters fighting together ? If so, will they stop to hit us or will they finish their combat first?
A: As for monster attack: they will attack the closest enemy, also taking into account the danger posed by the enemy.

Q: will monsters (bosses ?) have the capacity to replenish health with radioactive stuff ? Generally, will monsters be able to replenish ?
A: monsters will restore their energy from eating and rest, but not at all from radioactivity, no radioactive addicts planned

Q: will it be possible to tame little monsters ?
A: no

WEAPONS

Q: will we be able to possess few heavy weapons at the same time?
A: the inventory of the player is limited to 40 kg. so the player can choose whether to carry more weapons or equipment or food or..

Q: Will be forced to buy weapons ?
A: no, [we] will never be Forced to buy weapons.

Q: can the weapons be modified?
A: Most of the weapons are upgradeable in the game, yes.

Q: are the ammos weighted ?
A: yes, ammo will have certain weight to carry

Q: will it be possible to elaborate traps ?
A: no, not yet.

Q: will weapons deal realistic damage ? How do you manage injuries ?
A: weapons will deal realistic damage, we’ll have different levels of injuries, open wounds causing loss of blood and blood stains on the ground

Q: Will u be able to aim in a « realistic » way, as in Vietcong or Operation Flashpoint ? (IRON SIGHT style)
A: realistic aiming is on our feature list, still working on it

Q: I thought you said that iron-sights will not be in the game? And when will the REAL gameplay trailer be released? You said around february, any more details?
A: we do our best to make aiming realistic, and we are working it out. REAL gameplay trailer can be expected rather soon

Q: Will you add a « hand fighting » mode, useful if you don »t know how use a weapon ^^
A: « hand fighting » mode will be awaileble
Q: kick or punch ? or both ?
A: knives
Q: When I said hand-fighting, I mean punch, yeah take this ! why not ?

Q: Will the game include nuclear weapons ?
A: the game will not include nuclear weapons

VEHICLES

Q: We can drive car or other transport in game?
A: yes, you will be able to drive transport ranging from passenger cars to heavy trucks (Kamaz)

Q: PRIVIET ! I »ve seen many vehicles in videos..and in the trip you made to Tchernobyl we can see in a vehicle cementery Helicopters and other vehicles.. Will we find Tanks in the game ?
A: no, only the soviet APCs (ÁÒÐ)

Q: Will the helicopter remain undriveable ?
A: Only the military people can drive helicopters patroling the Zone.

Q: are vehicules destructible ? if so, are they reparable ?
A: the vehicles will be destructable, and will unlikely be reparable.

Q: do the engine need petrol?
A: All engines in the game will need patrol

Q: If I find a car,i drive it a little,I leave it and I back later,will it have been disappeared ?
A: The car will remain at the same place if.

Q: Can we expect to see car and things like that in multiplayer part ?
A: cars and things like that will be awaileble in MP

Q: Are there other types of Vehicles present in the game that we havent seen yet other than the ones featured on the official website?
A: yep 😉

WEATHER, REST & FOOD

Q: Does the weather have an influence on the gameplay ?
A: yes it will. In the night the characters will see worse, and the player grows tired faster in the rain.

Q: will the place choosed to rest will be determinant (no threat area) or will the resting be always peaceful ?
A: as for the rest, you will need to look for a conspicuous place to sleep, otherwise the player will be woken up in the middle of the night by some roaming monster or so..

Q: HOW WILL THE SLEEPING SYSTEM WORK , could you explain it a bit more ?
A: The player could choose teh sleep or rest option and then teh screen is getting darker and the life simulation system count teh events during the sleep. If somebody attack teh player he will awake.

Q: So the weather will change during sleep, no in realtime then ?
A: The weather will change in realtime

Q: since the player has to eat, will he be able to develop his own recipes?
A: own food recipes for player? sure, we’ll have a cooking book coming in one box with the game:) *Joking* player will make use of quite simple food

MULTIPLAYER & MODS

Q: when playing the game in multiplayer cooperative mode, will it be possible to save the game? if yes, will the world status be saved, or just the players status?
A: as for cooperative, we are not sure whether we can implement that mode in the game

Q: In the multiplayer,when 2 clans will fight, do the monsters will attack clans and join the fight ?
A: the monsters will always fight for themselves, in other words they will percieve both (or more) clans as their enemies

Q: Will the game be sold with developpement means of Mods? (SDK)
A: MODs – we think hard on it as we understand the importance of mod-community
MODs – we may show some tools already at GDC in March

Q: Does the multiplayer game work by game session or could we join a created game at any moment ?
A: you will be able to join in the middle of the session and leave as well.

Q: Will mod developers be able to use free tools like Blender, or do they need 3dsmax or lightwave
A: Maybe later some free tools will appear.
Q: great 🙂 I meant: will it be easy to import a 3d model for a mod from a free modeler like Blender ( www.blender.org )? Or do you need an expensive program like lightwave?

Q: What is the current thinking about co-op? It is the most sought-after MP-Mode by the community! The latest interview on CGNO didn »t contain a word about it? 🙂

Q: Is Co-op multiplayer still beung included the multiplayer options in Stalker as its the most eagerly anticipated multiplayer mode desired by the community?
A: cooperative is in question, there are certain challenges
Q: you don’t like challenges ?
A: challenges is a mild word, we should have said « difficulties »:)
Q: 😐 make a coop mod, damnit !

Q: will it be possible to add a homemade(MOD) portion to the zone (like morrowind minus the bugs 😉 )
A: info on MOD tools will be available later

Q: another modding question : will it be possible to create new areas, and larger than 40 sq km ?
A: Separate locations of the whole map should be not more than 5×5 km

Q: Will there be a plugin MILKSHAPE D, to decompile and import maps and D models?
A: MILKSHAPE plugin? haven’t implemented that yet, but possible

NAME

Q: From where comes the name of STALKER?
A: The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. name is abbreviation to be deciphered in the game
it’s an acronym
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is an acronym:)
Q: an acronym of what ?
A: it is a secret. you’ll find out in the actual game
A: we’ll decipher it in the game only

Q: THQ recently changed the name of the game to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: The Shadow of Chernobyl on its press website. Do they just take too much drugs, or can we expect some « official » name change announce soon?
A: Name change is possible

Q: As this chat was Exceptional, couldn »t you just give us a little clue about the meaning of the word S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ?
A: the word STALKER is a secret one ;)))

RELEASE & MISC STUFF

Q: When we see final realise S.T.L.K.E.R.?
A: the release is planned for Q2 2004, expectedly summer

Q: What versen relised first? Russian or English?
A: We think of a simultaneous release of the versions

Q: will you keep voice acting in russian subtitled in english (i think that would be great) or will it be localised as well?
A: The voice will be localised.

Q: do you think that the stalker univers will please american »s tastes or do you think that the game will be über-exotic for them?
A: We think Americans will like the game 😉

Q: do you work on console version?
A: No console version so far, we want to complete the PC one first:)

Q: Have you got any feedback from idSoftware or Valve? Or expecting it for this year »s GDC? 😀
A: We had no feedback from idSoftware and Valve

Q: What are yours arguments to dissociate Stalker of other FPS ???
A: very roughly speaking, we try creating a different gameplay experience within a living world, so many approaches are innovative there

Q: Do you think already at a 2nd Stalker ?
A: we’ve thinking on Stalker2 in the evenings sitting near the fireplace :))))

Q: after release will stalker be updated with patches containing new drivable vehicles etc?
A: there is a possibility of updating patches after the release

Q: Many people have suffered from the Chernobyl catastrophe. Many of the members saw it with their own eyes. Would GSC, if S.T.A.L.K.E.R. turns out to be a success, donate from the economic profits?
A: we were witnesses of the catastrophe ourselves, and it was a big tragedy, quite possible we donate some money to people who suffered

Q: do you thing that the game will be a good representation of your point of view ? i mean the idea of the game that you have …
A: we believe in the game to be as we planned it, and even more

DEMO & BETA

Q: Is there a demo version of your game planned. And most importantly, will it be released before the game or after if there »ll be one?
A: the demo is yet an open option. we can’t say when yet.

Q: When will the beta begin ?
A: we are not sure yet

DEVELOPMENT, SOUNDTRACK & ENGINE

Q: What is the engine to be used for STALKER?
A: the engine is called X-ray. was created within our own studio from scratch

Q: aren’t you afraid of over doing the game developpment? Do you think you will be able to implement all those features in the game?
A: No development fear here whatsoever, we haven’t skipped virtually anything from the initial feature list. And so far all goes as planned and fine

Q: is the engine considered finished ? are you only focusing on the gameplay stuff and optimizing now ?
A: the DX8 part of the engine is complete, now working on DX9 one. Gameplay is done by another people, so both tasks progress simultaneously

Q: what was the most difficult to achieve when creating the game?
A: Most difficult in game development?..eh..it’s all so challenging:)

Q: Will game have video or 3d-animation?
A: The game will have videos.

Q: As you don »t use AI script based, it should required a huge CPU to manage all bots and players no ?
A: AI will be resource-consuming, but to a relative extent, we’ll optimize it

Q: Is the development of the water render finished ? Because in the available screens who show this render, it »s not so amazing… (like Far Cry)
A: The water render is not finished.

Q: Did you need motion capture and for what precisly ?
A: we partially used motion capture to make character movements more realistic

Q: we read in your devdiaries (ie. on Gamespot) that you have an enourmous attention to details. Is the game feature-complete, now, or are you still adding stuff?
A: work on game features is in full-swing now, so you’ll see more of eye-candy later:)

Q: Will this game be compatible with the 5.1 sound???
A: Yes. the game will be compatible with 5.1 sound

Q: a while ago you released some screens optimized for GeForceFX cards, but not in the last months : are such optimization still planned ?
A: The DX9 optimization is still planned, will be demonstrated later

Q: do you want sell your engine?
A: Engine licensing is planned. interested parties can contact us via e-mail

Q: Are the pixel and vertex shaders 2.0 included in the DirectX 9 render of STALKER ?
A: 2.0 shaders will be in teh 9x render

Q: Are you planning to code a 64 bit version of STALKER? (AMD 64 support)
A: 64-bit processor support – working on it:)

Q: Could you tell us a bit more about the soundtrack or is there really nothing more to say except that it will be a dark ambient ?
A: The soundrack will be the similiar to the site soundrack (actually it is a part of original soundrack)

Q: How will performance be like on ATI, NV and XGI graphics cards?
A: performance optimization will be done for all the major boards, makes no sense to support only one particular graphics card, user must not suffer!

Q: how the loading works ?
A: loading is activated when crossing from one location to another

Q: What is for you the funniest thing we could find in the game ? Same question for the most curious thing that we could find.
A: Death :())))))

Q: Any plans on giving the game a philosophical touch?
A: We are the philosophers ourselves ;))))

Q: How many people work on this game?
A: there are 25 people on the team

INSPIRATION

Q: what are you source of inspiration?
Q: To what extend did you take inspiration from the Fallout series ? / Jusqu »où vous êtes vous inspirés de la série Fallout ?
A: Chernobyl, Fallout, Stalker movie and Roadside Picnic book were all the inspirations behind the game

Q: Interface is closer to Systemshock/Deus or Arx Fatalist? (3 references FPS/RPG)
A: As for the interface, will be quite simple, but we’ll have Inventory window..most close will probably be Fallout here

Q: what’s the connexion between stalker the film and the game? what »s your opinion on this fabulous film? can you bring us to light some unpublished scenario stuff?
A: The only connection between the game and the film is the same atmosphere in the Zone

Q: Did you read the book from Arcadi and Boris Strougatski ?
A: We’ve read the book by Strugatskie brothers, but not only one book. We’ve read many of their books

LEAK

Q: what do you think of the leak of beta and piracy in general
A: we’d rather talk on hunger in Africa, rather than piracy:) it’s hard to oppose piracy, and we’ve grown with it
we saw the leaked stalker code sold in the street, was rather painful to see..

Q: What do you think about the Beta, wich was released on internet? Did have an impact in the rest of developement?
A: The leaked version was only alpha and it will not affect the rest of the development.
the leaked code was old and had no impact on development, just couldn’t have