well well well....Stalker returns....

Well...since I am now and industry consultant and no longer the US Product Manager of STALKER...

1) The vehicles were never the big thing in STALKER. Limiting their gameplay isn't a big deal. The game was always more focused on experience the Zone. You probably won't miss extensive vehicle use as initially planned in the design.

2) The graphics, assuming it will actually release in 2007, should be fine. Will they be the best evarar? I don't care. While graphics were the best at one point, they may or may not have kept up with the times. Time will tell...as in...will HDR work as GSC claims? I hope so. Some of the new screens sure look nice. I have faith that the graphics will not deter from the gameplay and still make the game pleasent to look at and contribute to the spooky atmosphere. But I am not a graphics junky so your results may vary.

3) The story and premise and gameplay were always what the big hook was. I am still under NDA and I cannot reveal what I know about the script, but if GSC executes to what it was planning in the script I read, then I will bow to thee, GSC. I bow to thee.

4) So about the gameplay and A-life...the recent posts by GSC about A-Life and the story integration are not surprising.

http://stalker.myexp.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3449

It sounds like GSC and THQ have made the optimal choice. Believe me, they took on a hugely innovative idea when they went down the A-Life path. But in the end there were some issues that could not be overcome, so it sounds like GSC and THQ have wisely taken a slightly different approach...meaning the game will still have the open world field with some key story elements (Gulags as GSC calls them in the forum post) that deliver the goods.

I still believe in the idea behind STALKER. I always did...always will. The apathy at the game after so many delays is understandable, and frankly, appropriate. Any game with this many delays deserves skepticism. Very few games that have taken 5+ years to develop turn out awesome. HL2 may be the exception. Is STALKER of HL2 quality? There is no evidence GSC can deliver that, but that doesn't mean it is not a possibility.

I left THQ on good terms to pursue other opportunities. It broke my heart to leave STALKER, but the bigger picture demanded it. When I played it at THQ, I knew it would be awesome if they could just finish the very ambitious game to the original design idea. We'll have to see.

If THQ asked me to come back and work on it again, I would consider it, assuming the game actually is where they say it is.

Very insightfull, thanks Izuno

Wow, wow and wow

I think it looks good. And i like the concept.

Gameplay > Graphics

Quote from st0lve

Gameplay > Graphics

True

Quote from st0lve

Gameplay > Graphics

Definately, just wish people would realise that more often.

Quote from Pericolos0

gameplay and graphics are not two seperate areas. Graphics are an integral part of the gameplay, believe it or not.

bloom isn't part of the gameplay for me, doom3 shadows are.

Graphics make a huge difference to me. Not that they are more important than gameplay, or that I don't play non-pretty games, but they can make the experience so much more immersive and that DOES matter. I doubt I'd have liked Jet Set Radio half as much if it didn't have such awesome graphics - its visual style made it what it was. I love the Otogi games, but their gameplay is fairly average really - it's the wonderful animation, beautiful art, and, perhaps above all, glorious special effects that make it so charming. PGR3 isn't really different in terms of gameplay to either of its predecessors, nor even the Dreamcast original MSR, yet it is more enjoyable simply because its visuals are so involving you can't help but get more drawn into it. GRAW on the 360 is another prime example - Ghost Recon 2 was a great game but GRAW feels so much more urgent and exciting because it looks so damn pretty and realistic.

what I'm saying is that while the graphics in stalker may or may not have all the lastest and greatest stuff, I don't expect the graphics to deter from the gameplay, as yes, I understand that they are linked.

Quote

gameplay and graphics are not two seperate areas. Graphics are an integral part of the gameplay, believe it or not.

yeah, but graphic DESIGN is more important then new awesome shaders and polygons, and that is something that stalker seems to have.

Sometimes graphic design is only enabled through fancy new shaders though - cel-shading wasn't possible without them (not properly at least), for example