S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Q&A at GamingGroove 2.0

Mr. Teatime · Post by **Mr. Teatime** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:10 pm

[ -> Interview]

<a href="http://www.gaminggroove.com/">GamingGroove 2.0</a> have put up a <a href="http://www.gaminggroove.com/article.php?id=17">Q&A with GSC's Oleg Yavorsky</a>, a developer on <a href="http://www.stalker-game.com">S.T.A.L.K.E.R.</a>.<blockquote>GG: It has been said before that STALKER isn't going to have scripts ala Halflife etc. How is the dev team designing the game in order to ensure that this won't make for a dull experience for the player in light of this?
 
 Oleg: The world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. provides for open-ended gaming area where the events are not programmed in advance. We populate the army post with life, make computer stalkers accomplish dealer's tasks, procure equipment, weapons and explore the Zone, make monsters and stalkers evaluate their chances in battle and so on. Thus, we do not use scripts in their usual meaning. Players can freely explore the game world getting different events while playing through one and the same place. For instance, an injured stalker, who we go to rescue can safely await us in one play-through, we can find him in combat with an attacking monster in another one, he may be discovered by a hostile stalker roaming nearby and killed at another play-through and so on. I.e. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a game of circumstances, there's always a certain probability level present: if you are lucky, you can pass the place without any hindrances, otherwise, you may be abruptly attacked by a pack of blind dogs who appeared to be lurking nearby, or you may fall prey to an invisible anomaly etc. This makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R. stand out from the crowd. On the side of game design, we do our best to evenly fill the levels with monster habitats, at the same time creatures can migrate from level to level, and new ones appear with a certain probability, i.e. even if the player has exterminated everything what moves on a level, returning there later, he most likely will find some newcomers.</blockquote>It sounds good, as always, but how about a few less Q&As and a quicker release?
 Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.shacknews.com">Shacknews</A>

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:46 pm

This game could really be what we're all waiting for : a good game.

PiP · Post by **PiP** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:49 pm

like I've always said, this "life simulation system" (or whatever they call it) which Oleg is referring to, is THE best feature of Stalker. He forgets to add this time that other Stalkers are supposed to eg. forge alliances and take some quests before you do, both things not scripted but resulting from interaction among game characters (and other, non-human factors)

but yea, less yapping more releasing you bunch of liArz putting off the release over and over! :mad:

PiP · Post by **PiP** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:49 am

NMA have this:

GG: Can you tell us a bit about the AI in STALKER, both human and otherwise?
Oleg: AI is one of the big game features in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. which makes it stand out. For the game we created a system we call "life simulation". The task of that system is to make every monster and NPC in the game behave naturally, in accordance with their character type and follow his instincts, rather than scripts. Life simulation means monsters go hunting, feed, take rest, i.e. have a full life cycle. Monsters and stalkers evaluate their victory probabilities and make decisions whether to attack you or not, whether to run away in the middle of the battle etc, and they make these decisions basing on loads of factors. There are mean monsters (like Flesh), who won't be attacking you, unless you run out of ammunition or get injured. There are monsters who avoid physical contact preferring to stay in hideout and make use of their mind power or telekinesis. Stalkers can use group intellect, outflank you or lay ambush. An interesting thing to mention is that when a stalker or monster loses sight of you, instead of cheating and knowing where you are, he will try to guess where you could go hiding from that last spot he saw you. You will discover lots of interesting things about AI in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as you play.