The Gamer's Quarter

[dhex]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=69677

[Dracko]

An Eastern European game that has the production values to match its ambition?

Dear Lord, I hope so.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Lackey]

I seem to recall hearing about something like this ages ago...? It sounds like a high concept dream-game that should fail in the real world. I hope it doesn't.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[GSL]

I've been drooling over the concept of this game since I heard about it two years ago. It keeps inching slowly but surely towards completion with the first half of 2007 being the projected release. I'm just happy that my recent summer upgrade has left my computer in a state where I could actually play the game!

The fact that the development team took enormous pains to actually map out the Chernobyl plant and surrounding areas such as the ghost town of Pripyat has me simply foaming at the mouth; the legacy of the Chernobyl disaster is utterly fascinating to me in a way I simply cannot explain. That they combined the real-life disaster with The Zone of the brothers Strugatsky's novella Roadside Picnic is just icing on the cake.

[Redeye]

Stalker has a vaporware rep among PA fans.
(See Fallout thread. There's plenty more of that if you bring up Stalker in the PA ghetto.)

I just want to play the damn thing.

The prospect makes me giddy.
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I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

[Cycle]

It was behind closed doors at E3 this year. It's gone through lots of changes since it was first created, they actually realised they were being way too ambitious and that some of their great features were actually not that great. They cut a bunch of shit out of the game, so hopefully they will actually get the game finished and it won't be broken beyond belief.

It still looks pretty damn neat.

[Dracko]

Do those cuts include some of the truly unreal effects of radiation on terrain and objects?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Redeye]

[Dracko]

[Cycle]

[Dracko]

Then it isn't all that unfortunate, I suppose, if such effects just broke the game.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Cycle]

Well, yes, that's true. It certainly sounded like they wouldn't be able to get them to work without occasionally breaking the game.

[simplicio]

That sounds amazing to me, really. Couldn't they insert it as another difficulty level or something?

[Dracko]

It does all sound brilliant, but much like the lamented blue tentacle creature planned in Half-life 2, if its effects aren't clearly visible and you're unable to ever establish how to perceive, let alone react to something, then it's poor game deisgn no matter how you cut it. I don't get the impression they cut all of it out, though.

You can check out the zone effects on the main site: http://www.stalker-game.com/
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Lackey]

[Dracko]

Remember this feisty critter from the older screenshots?



You can even clearly see where it was supposed to be found, in the Anticitizen One chapter, right after Alyx's capture. Basically, while an intriguing enemy as well as a pretty tech demo, it was difficult to code, seeing as it would wind its way around corners and such, and was frustrating to the player as it would impale you, which didn't translate well in first person view.

A full list of Half-Life 2's deleted (and later reused in the Episodes series) content can be found here. I wonder if the Missing Information mod is still available somewhere?

EDIT: Google says "Yes!".

Oh hey, and check this out.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"