S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
File:Shadow of Chernobyl cover.jpg
Developer(s)	GSC Game World
Publisher(s)	THQ GSC World Publishing (CIS)
Designer
Engine	X-Ray Engine 1.0
status	Status Missing
Release date	March 20, 2007 (NA) March 22, 2007 (AUS) March 23, 2007 (EU)
Genre	First-person shooter, survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Age rating(s)	ESRB: M OFLC:MA 15+ PEGI: 16+
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Arcade system	Arcade System Missing
Media	DVD
Input	Inputs Missing
Requirements	Recommended: Windows XP, Intel Core 2 Duo E6400/AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 1.5GB+ RAM, nVidia GeForce 7900/ATI Radeon X1950/256 MB DirectX 9c compatible video card Minimum: Windows 2000 (SP 4), Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz/AMD Athlon XP 2200+, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB hard disk space, nVidia GeForce 5700/ATI Radeon 9600/128MB DirectX 9c compatible video card
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter computer game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.

It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the near future and causes strange changes in the area around it. The game has a non-linear storyline and features gameplay elements such as trading and two-way communication with NPCs. The game includes elements of role-playing and business simulation games.

The background and some terminology of the game ("The Zone", "Stalker") is borrowed from the popular science fiction novella Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky and the 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky film Stalker that was loosely based on it, as well as Stalker, the film's subsequent novelization by the original authors.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R, the player assumes the identity of an amnesiac "Stalker", an illegal explorer/artifact scavenger in "The Zone", named "The Marked One". "The Zone" is the location of an alternate reality version of the Zone of alienation surrounding the Chernobyl Power Plant after a second, fictitious meltdown, which further contaminated the surrounding area with radiation and caused strange otherworldly changes in local fauna, flora and the laws of physics. "Stalker" in the context of the film refers to the older meaning of the word as a tracker and hunter of game or guide.

On July 11, 2007, GSC Game World announced a prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, which was released on 5 September 2008. On April 30, 2009, GSC Game World announced a sequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, which was released worldwide in February 2010.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. stands for "Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber".

Setting

Location

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes place in an area called "The Zone", which is based on the real-life Zone of Alienation and partly on the settings of the source novel and film. It encompasses roughly 30 square kilometers and features a slice of Chernobyl extending south from Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant; geographical changes for artistic license include moving the city of Prypiat into this area (it is actually to the north-west of the power station), although the city itself is directly modeled on its real-life counterpart, albeit smaller in size.

History

After the initial Chernobyl Disaster, attempts were made to repopulate the area, primarily with scientists and military personnel. However, in 2006, almost 20 years after the first incident, a second disaster occurred, caused by the C-consciousness (rus. "О-Сознание" which corresponds with "осознание" - "realisation, awareness") program, killing or mutating most of the inhabitants.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. begins years later, after people have begun coming to the zone in search of money, valuable artifacts and scientific information.

Mutants

In keeping with the post-nuclear decay within The Zone, extreme radiation has caused mutations among animals and plants in the area. As such, creatures within The Zone are vastly different from their real-world counterparts (which include dogs, boars, crows and many more). Additionally, some areas of The Zone contain mutated humans, the majority of whom were caught in the second nuclear disaster. Several creatures which are present in the game cannot be enabled without game modification.

Artificial Intelligence of wildlife is highly developed and presents many realistic behaviors, such as fights over food and pack mentality, which can be observed in non-scripted events. The game engine was designed so that animal behavior is calculated even if the player is in a different part of the Zone.

Anomalies, artifacts and radiation

As a result of the second Chernobyl disaster, The Zone is littered with small areas of altered physics, known as anomalies. There are several different variations, each one having a unique impact upon those who cross its path. They can be potentially deadly to the player and other NPCs, delivering electric shocks, or pulling them into the air and crushing them. Most anomalies produce visible air or light distortions and their extent can be determined by throwing bolts (of which the player carries an infinite supply) to trigger them. Some stalkers also possess an anomaly detector, which emits warning beeps of a varying frequency depending on their proximity to an anomaly. The guide in the film Stalker, and his predecessors in the Strugatsky brothers' book Roadside Picnic, test various routes before proceeding. In the film, metal nuts tied with strips of cloth are used.

Anomalies produce Artifacts, the valuable scientific curiosities that make the Zone worth exploring monetarily. As well as being traded for money, a number of Artifacts can be worn so that they provide certain benefits and detriments (for example, increasing a stalker's resistance to gunfire while also contaminating him with small amounts of radiation). Artifacts are found scattered throughout the Zone, often near clusters of anomalies.

Radiation caused by the nuclear incidents at Chernobyl occurs in specific invisible patches throughout The Zone. Although most areas in The Zone have no radiation, areas near abandoned construction equipment that was used in the post-accident clean-up, certain military wrecked vehicles, and a variety of other locations create small to large fields of radiation, some of which cannot be passed through without the proper equipment (gas masks, filtration helmets etc...)

Gameplay

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a non-linear sandbox game. Players are relatively free to explore the world and have many opportunities to interact with other characters.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is primarily an FPS, but also features many RPG elements. The player does not gain additional abilities or statistics like most RPGs, but is instead allowed to use various types of equipment that is either purchased or found throughout the game world. There are a large number of items in the game, so the player has customization choices which are constrained primarily by how much exploring they do.

The game also attempts to blend the story and character interaction which are commonly associated with RPGs. However, unlike RPGs, conversation branches are extremely limited and do not significantly influence the course of the game, aside from accepting or declining missions.

Playing area and travel

The Zone is a large and varied area, consisting of wilderness, human settlements, and several heavily-guarded military bases. However, the game world is not a true contiguous world, but rather 18 different maps separated by loading screens. Transfer from one area of the Zone to another can only be accomplished at certain specific passageways; a wire fence border blocks players from attempting to cross the map in any other area.

The game does not feature controllable vehicles (although vehicles are programmed in the game code, they are not available without the use of a third party modification,) and thus players are required to go from place to place on foot. A sprint option using a limited stamina bar can be used to temporarily increase the player's rate of movement, though this is reduced by the weight of objects the player is carrying, and weapons cannot be fired while sprinting. It is possible to sprint indefinitely by using artifacts and keeping below a certain weight limit (50 kg); however, it is impossible to sprint with certain weapons (e.g. RPG-7 and SVD)

Radiation

When the player enters a highly irradiated area, they will begin to receive radiation poisoning. During this time, a radiation icon appears on the screen and fades through from green to yellow to red, signifying the strength of the poisoning, which grows the longer the player remains present in the affected areas. The stronger the poisoning, the faster the player's health decreases. Unless the player dies from damage caused by radiation poisoning, there are no permanent effects from contracting it other than health loss. However, radiation will persist and continue to drain health until either radiation medication or a substantial amount of vodka is consumed. Radiation can primarily be avoided by wearing certain artifacts that neutralize radiation or more advanced suits that will effectively protect the player from radiation.

Plot

The game offers multiple endings based on the player's choices throughout the game. This section assumes the player achieves the most complete ending.

The game begins with an unconscious, wounded stalker (the player character) being brought to Sidorovich, a black-market trader operating inside the Zone of alienation (or simply "The Zone"). Sid is able to save his life, but the wounded stalker is amnesic; the only clues to his identity are a tattoo on his arm of the acronym "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." and his PDA which contains only one entry in the to-do list: "Kill Strelok." The amnesiac stalker is dubbed "Marked One" by Sid.

Marked One repays Sid by performing certain tasks, and in the process receives information about Strelok's possible whereabouts. With no other leads to his past or the cause of his amnesia Marked One follows the information from contact to contact, tracing Strelok's past movements and learning more about his supposed assassination target; as information is uncovered he begins to recover scattered memories. Eventually Marked One follows a lead to a factory in Yantar. Yantar is the home of a Brain Scorcher, a field which effectively destroys the mind of anyone who comes within its range, turning them violent and hostile. Scientists studying the phenomenon determine that it is man-made and recruit Marked One to enter a secret lab underneath the factory to disable it, which he does.

Information taken from a body in the lab directs Marked One to track down a member of Strelok's group named Doc. Attempting to reach him in an abandoned base of Strelok's, Marked One inadvertently triggers an explosive booby trap and is nearly killed, only to be rescued by Doc. While he is incapacitated Doc speaks to Marked One about the rumor of a giant "Wish Granter" artifact located somewhere in the center of the Zone, but also indicates that Marked One is Strelok, calling him by that name. Before Marked One can recover to ask any questions Doc leaves.

Further leads send Marked One towards the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where the Wish Granter may be located. However, travel to Chernobyl itself has been all but impossible due to the presence of another, larger Brain Scorcher south of Pripyat, as well as the "Monolith" faction of stalkers who worship the Wish Granter and kill anyone attempting to access it. Marked One makes his way through the forest south of Pripyat and deactivates the second Brain Scorcher, re-opening the path to the abandoned city.

Pripyat is in chaos as dozens of stalkers clash with Monolith forces. Marked One eventually makes it to the Chernobyl facility, also held by Monolith forces. After fighting his way through the opposing stalkers Marked One discovers both the gigantic Wish Granter artifact and a secret laboratory in the building. Inside the heavily defended lab is a large holographic terminal, through which an entity calling itself "C-Consciousness" communicates. It readily answers Marked One's questions, revealing what it is, who Marked One is, and the events prior to his amnesia.

In the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, the Soviet Union decided to use the Exclusion Zone for special research into the human mind. Results included enhanced ESP, psychic weapons, and the eventual formation of a hivemind of seven neurally linked scientists known as the C-Consciousness. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the self-aware C-Consciousness took control of the Zone and continued its research. It attempted to bring about world peace using global mind control; however, these attempts resulted in the unintentional twisting of the physical terrain around Chernobyl as well as the mutation of resident life forms, creating the Zone. In an attempt to hide its existence the C-Consciousness created the two Brain Scorcher fields and erected a Monolith artifact - the Wish Granter - in the center of the Zone, which it uses to brainwash any stalkers who reach it; brainwashed stalkers are tattooed with the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." acronym and reprogrammed to serve the C-Consciousness.

Rumors of the Wish Granter slowly spread throughout the Zone. A group of four stalkers (Strelok, Ghost, Fang, and Doc) attempt to reach the Wish Granter, but after encountering the fanatical Monolith faction they are forced to retreat. Strelok is knocked unconscious during a "blowout" and loses his memory while the others are able to escape. On the way back Fang is killed by a sniper in Pripyat; some time later Ghost is killed in the Brain Scorcher control facility under Yantar.

The unconscious Strelok is discovered by the C-Consciousness; unaware of his identity, it mistakenly assigns him the task of killing himself. On the way out of the Zone the truck carrying the still unconscious Strelok is destroyed in a lightning storm and he is discovered by another passing stalker, leading into the events at the beginning of the game.

Once the C-Consciousness has finished answering Marked One/Strelok's questions he is faced with a choice: merge with the C-Consciousness to ensure its continued existence, or stop the C-Consciousness from continuing its experiments. If Strelok refuses to assist the C-Consciousness he is transported to the exterior of the Chernobyl plant, where he navigates his way through teleportation anomalies and armed Monolith soldiers in order to reach the source of the C-Consciousness. Once inside Strelok shoots the encapsulated scientists which form the C-Consciousness.

Afterwards Strelok is suddenly shown standing in a grassy field, watching the sky as the clouds break and the sun comes out. The Zone is apparently gone. He questions whether or not he made the right decision, but as he lays down in the grass he concludes that while he may never know what was right, he is happy that he survived.

Technical features

X-ray graphics engine

File:Stalkershot 2.jpg

A screenshot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

The X-ray Engine is a DirectX 8.1/9 Shader Model 3.0 graphics engine. Up to a million polygons can be on-screen at any one time. The engine features HDR rendering, parallax and normal mapping, soft shadows, motion blur, widescreen support, weather effects and day/night cycles. As with other engines that use deferred shading, the X-ray Engine does not support multisample anti-aliasing with dynamic lighting enabled. However, a different form of anti-aliasing can be enabled with dynamic lighting which utilizes an edge detection algorithm to smooth edges between objects. The game takes place in a thirty square kilometer area, and both the outside and inside of this area are rendered to the same amount of detail. Some textures in the game were photographs of the walls in the developers' studio.

As of patch 1.0003 the X-ray engine supports "surround screen" monitor setups, including a 16:9 native resolution ratio. (Examples include Eyefinity by AMD and Nvidia's own 3D surround technology)

AI

File:Stalkershot rostok.jpg

A screenshot demonstrating the abilities of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s rendering engine after enabling anti-aliasing and tone mapping.

The X-ray engine uses GSC Game World's proprietary ALife artificial intelligence engine. ALife supports more than one thousand characters inhabiting the Zone. These characters are non-scripted, meaning that AI life can be developed even when not in contact with the player.

The NPCs have a full life cycle (task accomplishment, combat, rest, feeding and sleep) and the same applies to the many monsters living in the Zone (hunting, attacking stalkers and other monsters, resting, eating, sleeping). These monsters migrate in large groups. The non-scripted nature of the characters means that there are an unlimited number of random quests. For instance, rescuing stalkers from danger, destroying stalker renegades, protecting or attacking stalker camps or searching for treasure. The AI characters travel around the entire zone as they see fit.

Numerous tactics can be employed to complete the game, such as rushing or using stealth and sniping. The NPCs will react in a different way to each of them. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s NPCs plan ahead by "Goal-Oriented Action Planning" to achieve this.

Physics

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. uses a heavily modified version of the ODE physics engine. Ragdoll physics, destructible objects, realistic bullet ballistics and skeletal animation can all be found in the game.

Bullets are affected by gravity, bounced against solid surfaces at oblique angles, and firearms are highly inaccurate when fired without aiming. To score consistent hits at medium or long range, players must aim using the iron sights on their guns. Additionally, hit damage is pseudo-realistic, and the player can die after only being shot a few times (although later in the game various armor suits and artifacts can be acquired that increase the player's resistance to damage). Late-game depends heavily on scoped weaponry due to the well-armed and armored enemies that keep their distance from the player.

Weather

A weather system is integrated into various parts of the landscape and allows a variety of weather effects, such as sunshine, storms and showers. The weapons available, behavior of the AI, game tactics and ranking systems depend on the weather. Unlike most dynamic weather systems, the game features complete dynamic wet surfaces such as pavement, concrete, brick walls, etc.

Soundtrack

The game features ambient music by Frey Vladimir aka "MoozE", but also has couple of songs from the Ukrainian band Firelake.

Development delay, leak and release

The game was first announced in November 2001 and had its release date, originally in 2003, pushed back several times. Meanwhile hundreds of screenshots of the game had been released, as well as a dozen preview video clips, accompanied by other forms of promotion by GSC, such as inviting fans to their offices in Kiev to play the current build of the game. However, due to the delays some considered S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to be vaporware.

In late December 2003, a pre-alpha build of the game was leaked to peer-to-peer file sharing networks. This build, marked as version 1096, inadvertently acted as a fully-functional tech demo of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s engine, despite its lack of NPC enemies and fauna.

In February 2005, THQ expressed a desire to see the game released toward the end of its 2006 fiscal year (March 31, 2006) but maintained that no release date had been set. In October, 2005, THQ confirmed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. would not be out "until the second half of THQ's 2007 fiscal year - October 2006 at the earliest." In February 2006, THQ revised this possible release window, saying the game would not be in stores until the first quarter of 2007.

In an interview at the Russian Gameland Awards, PR Manager Oleg Yavorsky indicated that release was planned for September 2006.

In 2006, the game came 9th in Wired's Vaporware '06 award.

THQ ran a competition in January 2007 offering the winners the chance to play the beta version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., in a 24 hour marathon session. The event, scheduled to take place on January 24, 2007, was subsequently changed to a 12 hour session days before it was supposed to occur. On the morning of the event, the winners were met at the venue by the THQ staff that had organized the event, who were embarrassed to report that they had been unable to get any copies of the game. In late February GSC managed to release a public beta. A multiplayer demo was released to the public on March 15, 2007.

On March 2, 2007, it was announced that the game went gold.

At the end of February 2009, due to popular demand GSC Game World released "xrCore" build 1935, dated October 18, 2004. It uses a completely different physics engine with many cut monsters, levels, and vehicles. It was also significantly larger than the retail release. It is however somewhat unstable, but features the full game along with a "fully functional ALife system". It is currently available for free download from the GSC servers and mirrors.

Reception

Reviews

Compilation review site	Aggregate score
Game Rankings	83% (51 reviews)
Metacritic	82/100 (44 reviews)
Publication	Score
Eurogamer	8/10
GameSpot	8.5/10
GameSpy	3.5/5
Game Informer	8.25/10
IGN	8.2/10
PC Gamer	85/100
PC Zone	85/100
Igromania	9.5/10

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. received generally favorable reviews, with an average critic rating of 83% at Game Rankings. While the game was praised for its style and depth, other reviewers addressed certain technical issues, mentioning the number of bugs present.

The game design of the Zone was one of the most favored aspects. GameSpot praised the style and level design, stating "This is a bleak game, but in a good way, as it captures its post apocalyptic setting perfectly", while Eurogamer called it "one of the scariest games on the PC" going on to say "Like the mythological Chernobyl zone it is based upon, this game is a treacherous, darkly beautiful terrain."

Game Informer didn't find the gameplay particularly innovative, but still complimented the basic FPS design, saying, "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. isn’t the revolution that we all hoped it would be. It is, however, a respectable and sometimes excellent first-person adventure" where as GameSpot called it "one of the best ballistics models ever seen in a game, and as a result, firefights feel authentic as you try and hit someone with what can be a wildly inaccurate rifle".

Upon release, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was criticized for having numerous bugs, especially when used with the then-recently released Windows Vista. IGN found the game "tended to stutter quite often, sometimes pausing for three or four seconds at regular intervals, which occurred on two different Windows XP rigs at maximum visual quality," and some cases of game crashing glitches.

Another criticized aspect was the story, which to some reviewers was "incoherent" and which PC Gamer stated "fails in the specific story of your character".

Awards

In December, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. won the Special Achievement award for Best Atmosphere in GameSpot's Best and Worst 2007, stating that "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. captures the 'ghost town' nature of the zone, from the abandoned cities to the overgrown wilderness. Then, the game adds its own paranormal elements, which help make a spooky environment almost terrifying at times".

Sales

As of September 2008, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has sold 2 million copies worldwide. GSC Game World CEO Sergiy Grygorovych has said "We are very pleased that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. became so popular among players from all over the world. Financial success will allow us to develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in different directions as a brand."

Legacy

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

Main article: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a prequel set a year before Shadow of Chernobyl. The game world consists of a mix of 50% old, redesigned areas, and 50% completely new levels. The updated engine supports the Inverse Kinematics animation system, allowing more and better animations. New effects such as volumetric lighting were also included. In general, the developers sought to take the basics of everything in Shadow of Chernobyl and enhance them. Better AI, graphics and new game-play additions, such as faction wars, were some of the added features.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Main article: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is a sequel set after the events in Shadow of Chernobyl. The game features new areas recreated by their true-to-life locales such as Pripyat town, Yanov railway station, Jupiter factory, Kopachi village and more. Other features include an improved A-Life system, a new player interface, a brand new story and a number of unique characters, two new monsters and behavior and abilities, an extended system of side quests, a sleep function and a free play mode.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the new chapter of the series, which has been announced for release in 2012. Sergey Grygorovich, CEO of GSC Game World, specified that the video game will feature a completely new multi-platform engine, written by GSC itself.

Death Zone

A series of novels by known Russian science fiction authors, such as Andrey Livadny, Roman Glushkov, Viacheslav Shalygin, and Aleksey Kalugin. A third explosion occurs near Chernobyl in 2051, which destroys the Zone of Alienation along with all the mutants. At the same time, four new Zones appear throughout the former nations of the Soviet Union, separated from the rest of the world by spherical gravity Barriers. These Five Zones are filled with new unseen before technogenic monsters and are connected to each other by areas in the center known as portals. New kinds of stalkers band together to fight off staltechs (former stalkers who have been turned into metallic monsters), mechanoids (machines that have been "reanimated" by extradimensional nanotechnology), other stalker groups, and transnational forces from the outside world who seek to make a fortune on new technology.

External links

This file was sourced from Wikimedia Commons. Additional media related to this image may be found at:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

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• THQ's Official S.T.A.L.K.E.R website
• GSC Game World's official website
• The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Wiki

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