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[Messofanego]

All the time GB Burford (DocSeuss here) has been writing at Kotaku has lead up to this article Read the whole article.

In my mind, the perfect survival game would be a varied experience that focuses on survival in ways other than forcing the player to constantly prowl the game world for resources. If this perfect survival game were to feature combat, tension would stem from the encounter design rather than awkward movement or aiming. Does this game exist?

Yes, though it's not just one game, but an entire series.

Most Survival Games Have Problems That S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Solved Long Ago

That's the thing, most of these games are inspired by Minecraft and not STALKER. Most survival games right now are more about managing resources and other F2P-like bar filling mechanics really, compared to having worlds where AIs and systems interact with each other while still being scripted enough that boredom won't set in. They use permadeath as artificial tension in my opinion. The stuff in STALKER would require a bigger budget indeed, which is probably why a STALKER clone hasn't happened to such a successful degree (although Far Cry 2 was close).

These recent survival games aren't about the unknown or weird shit happening that invites you to understand the world through exploring. The Forest comes close in that aspect. Haven't played The Long Dark myself but I found Sir, You Are Being Hunted surprisingly disappointing cause all the procedural/permadeath stuff kept me away from exploring, experimenting, and interacting on my own terms.

But I hold out hope in STALKER clones coming around eventually that nail what it was trying to do 8 years ago.

 

[old manatee]

Stalker was so far ahead of its time.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I bought stalker ages ago on GFWL lol.
Dunno if I have it on steam.

 

[Rivitur]

Welp better start looking forward to stalker 2 then huh? GSC has been back in business since Christmas if I recall.

Found it: http://www.gamerheadlines.com/2014/12/stalker-dev-reopens-new-game/

They also said the kick starter was technically a stalker game but a shitty browser game another team was making to fill in before stalker 2 released.

 

[HotHamWater]

Welp better start looking forward to stalker 2 then huh? GDC has been back in business since Christmas if I recall.

My heart can only take so much, I refuse to be filled with hope once more.

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

Good article DocSeuss. I loved the Stalker games. So much fun (and frustration at getting killed over and over).

 

[Alex Connolly]

Good article.

I tell you what, though...Sir, You Are Being Hunted was a fairly boring experience when all is said and done, even being helmed by STALKER devotee Rossignol himself. Great world, mechanically flat.

 

[Rivitur]

My heart can only take so much, I refuse to be filled with hope once more.

The hope is live m8, very much alive.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Another great analysis from DocSeuss. I definitely need to play Shadow of Chernobyl some time, maybe this glimpse will do for now.

 

[Mafro]

Good article.

I tell you what, though...Sir, You Are Being Hunted was a fairly boring experience when all is said and done, even being helmed by STALKER devotee Rossignol himself. Great world, mechanically flat.

Yeah I've been a bit disappointed from what I've played of that.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Y'all shouldn't sleep on Survarium. It's in Open Beta and the PvE/open world hasn't been added yet, but the shooting feels amazing and it's a solid base for the game. They already have four factions, with specific equipment, skill system, and artifacts that provide buffs.

Seriously, the gunplay (all of it--sound, models, recoil, etc.) feels GREAT. I hope they nail the open world aspect.

 

[I speel my dreenk]

An article celebrating both Far Cry 2 and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series? You're doing good work out there, Doc.

Good points too, I hadn't thought about the recent trend of survival games in relation to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. There's a lot there worthy of being imitated and emulated by more of those types of games, but I guess one problem for most of the developers making them is - as you say - the complexity required for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to work as well as it does. Not that it would be necessary in all cases, as I'm sure there are shortcuts or new avenues to discover that achieve similar enough results, but maybe the prospect itself is intimidating for some devs. Or, maybe they just haven't played S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!

 

[ashecitism]

Great game, good article. Been meaning to revisit it eventually and play the sequels, with mods this time. Are those you mentioned included in the Complete mod?

Also, them labs, man.

 

[Marche90]

Great, now I want to play this game even though I can't play FPS games (with some rare exceptions, all of them gives me headaches)

Can't say the warning that appeared on the Twitter post wasn't given...

 

[Messofanego]

Or, maybe they just haven't played S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!

You joke, but I feel that's more the case otherwise loads of devs would be making games with similar goals. So many devs are inspired by Looking Glass or Ultima immersive sim stuff and have made/making games that harken back to it but they require a lot of resources so not as many come out.

 

[-griffy-]

I should really get around to playing Call of Pripyat.

 

[Akronis]

STALKER is easily my favorite FPS series. No other game like it. No other company could develop it either.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I should really get around to playing Call of Pripyat.

Yeah you do. It's the best in the series.

 

[Dominic_Shade]

Wow, fantastic article. Love your breakdown of STALKER's survival mechanics. I never felt like the resource management got in the way of the game, but I never bothered to figure out why. This article did a great job of that.

Three cheers for DocSeuss! Now excuse me while I start yet another Call of Pripyat run.

 

[thehillissilent]

I was about to go out an buy them on steam when I realized that I already own them all on GOG.

 

[capitalCORN]

If there's one experience that was new and unique in Gen 7, this is it. This is the definitive goalpost for the generation.

 

[Green Wiggly]

Add me to the ranks of those needing to revisit the franchise. I absolutely love the feel of the first game (I have all 3, but it's the only one I've played with the 2009 complete mod). Never even made it that far story wise, but had such a great time just wandering around and exploring the environment. Maybe I'll try CoP this time around though.

I do wish I'd just bought them on Steam instead of disc though, but I guess setting up some network sharing to get them installed won't be too bad.

 

[MrCow]

my main problem with stalker was while I was looting a base and killing every enemy within, most of the enemy's would respawn In the location while I was still looking for stuff and exploring the area I had just freed from encounters..

this was stalker 1 on release but It took the whole fun out of the game for me. and I never touched it again after this.

was this ever fixed or changed in the sequels?

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

This game is still amazing, even to this day. So many choices, so many things to do, visit, collect and everywhere you go, you never feel safe. I agree, the idea of running out of resources like food and water is quite annoying and makes it stressful, but when it comes to STALKER, it's all tension. You may have resources to keep you alive, but they don't dwindle that fast and while that is slow, it's replaced by a sense of "Oh fuck, I'm going to fuck this up and die."

We need another STALKER, but the whole thing about making another one is so far up into the air, it might as well be leaving orbit.

 

[I speel my dreenk]

You joke, but I feel that's more the case otherwise loads of devs would be making games with similar goals. So many devs are inspired by Looking Glass or Ultima immersive sim stuff and have made/making games that harken back to it but they require a lot of resources so not as many come out.

Only half-joking, as I do think that the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series is severely unplayed and/or under-appreciated - especially by folks having ideas for and producing games. I think part of that might be the un-inviting nature of the series as (initially) buggy and janky, needing a substantial rig to run the games at their time of release, and the much-maligned-yet-vastly-overblown task of modding a game for optimal performance or new experience. That said, I do wonder if the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series will be sort of re-discovered in the near future, due to the natural gains in hardware power, and maybe through word-of-mouth such as this article

 

[Messofanego]

I should start playing this again, keep meaning to finish it (gave it 10 hours and was enough to appreciate all the awesome about it) but new games always get in the way.

This and Deus Ex are always going to be brought up cause of how much they still stand out in design, I wonder if the developers knew these were "evergreen" games in that they're talked about years later.

 

[DocSeuss]

Good article.

I tell you what, though...Sir, You Are Being Hunted was a fairly boring experience when all is said and done, even being helmed by STALKER devotee Rossignol himself. Great world, mechanically flat.

Yeah, that's why I haven't gone back to it. I didn't want to hate on it, though, 'cause things might have changed since its release, but what I played... felt so flat. Part of it is the complete lack of friendly NPCs. Basically, when I had the early access version, it was just all the tense bits of STALKER without any of the other bits. STALKER, I feel, is the interplay of a bunch of different moments, not just one.

Y'all shouldn't sleep on Survarium. It's in Open Beta and the PvE/open world hasn't been added yet, but the shooting feels amazing and it's a solid base for the game. They already have four factions, with specific equipment, skill system, and artifacts that provide buffs.

Seriously, the gunplay (all of it--sound, models, recoil, etc.) feels GREAT. I hope they nail the open world aspect.

Alpha felt AWFUL. Guns wobbled all around the screen. Couldn't hit crap. It got better, it sounds like?

An article celebrating both Far Cry 2 and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series? You're doing good work out there, Doc.

Good points too, I hadn't thought about the recent trend of survival games in relation to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. There's a lot there worthy of being imitated and emulated by more of those types of games, but I guess one problem for most of the developers making them is - as you say - the complexity required for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to work as well as it does. Not that it would be necessary in all cases, as I'm sure there are shortcuts or new avenues to discover that achieve similar enough results, but maybe the prospect itself is intimidating for some devs. Or, maybe they just haven't played S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!

A lot of it is that many people haven't played a PC-exclusive game with an 82 metascore (closer to release it was like... 72 or something, iirc), euro-jank, and a terrible marketing push.

Great game, good article. Been meaning to revisit it eventually and play the sequels, with mods this time. Are those you mentioned included in the Complete mod?

Also, them labs, man.

No, but I have a Complete/AMK/Dynamic Weather hybrid I posted in the Steam thing earlier.

Here's part 1
Here's part 2

Yeah you do. It's the best in the series.

Call of Pripyat is so small and 'dead.' Easily the most boring maps, the least underground-time, the least-interesting story... I don't know why people like it the most. It gets almost everything wrong.

 

[PensOwl]

Call of Pripyat is so small and 'dead.' Easily the most boring maps, the least underground-time, the least-interesting story... I don't know why people like it the most. It gets almost everything wrong.

Truth. I remember playing CoP and feeling the whole time that nothing ever happened unless I was on a quest, unlike in stalker where dynamic ai driven events were happening constantly. Even more, it felt like in stalker you could explore an army base or old lab by yourself and find some unique armor or artifact or gun. I imagine most people liked CoP more because of the added rpg elements with upgrading and repairs

 

[DocSeuss]

Truth. I remember playing CoP and feeling the whole time that nothing ever happened unless I was on a quest, unlike in stalker where dynamic ai driven events were happening constantly. Even more, it felt like in stalker you could explore an army base or old lab by yourself and find some unique armor or artifact or gun. I imagine most people liked CoP more because of the added rpg elements with upgrading and repairs

I think there's a lot of push-back against the game in part because Clear Sky was so... alive. A lot of people didn't like that. This often translated to "I don't like that I feel my efforts are futile/I can't 100% the game." You'd go capture a point, and then twenty minutes later, you'd lose it again. There was nothing you could do about it. So many missions, you'd hear on the radio, then you'd get a mission failure notice because the Zone is so cruel. It infuriates a typical gamey mindset. You have to learn to let go and treat the Zone like a real, brutal world to start to appreciate Clear Sky. That's when it gets good.

 

[Grief.exe]

I didn't like CoP as much as CoS either, I could never quite put my finger on it. Didn't help that I hadn't played Clear Sky, so I was a little lost on parts of the plot.

 

[bengraven]

Agreed completely.

- you're truly terrified at times from both enemies AND atmosphere
- enemy AI is fantastic, with groups of bandits flanking you. Don't play on easy, they're smarter than that
- no auto healing
- rare hub areas for safety
- faction system means you create your own enemies


I also love games where you need to get to shelter IMMEDIATELY. Minecraft was one of those, at night, until they made the PC more powerful and it wasn't as much of a threat.

But emission storms? It reminds me of tornado sirens when I was a kid - GTF into a building and away from windows, STAT.

Perfect game.







Edit: I played Cherno three times, just the first 1/3 of the game - could never get much further. I played Pripyat recently and got all the way through. I enjoyed Prip a lot more, but again, I didn't get too farinto Cherno.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Alpha felt AWFUL. Guns wobbled all around the screen. Couldn't hit crap. It got better, it sounds like?

Beta is much better, apparently. I didn't play much, if any, of the Alpha, and if I did, I don't remember it.

Shooting feels great in the Beta. I hop on a few times a week.

Call of Pripyat is so small and 'dead.' Easily the most boring maps, the least underground-time, the least-interesting story... I don't know why people like it the most. It gets almost everything wrong.

Is it actually smaller than the other games? I really liked the map. I would spend hours running missions and exploring. The blowouts were amazing, as well.

I just generally didn't like the "feel" of Clear Sky. I think the stronger emphasis on the rest of the world/factions kinda alienated me, TBH.

I feel like CoP has a more complete/polished experience, in terms of mechanics, bugs, and overall design. I think it is a bit shallower, though.

Maybe "best" S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game isn't right, but I think it's the most polished and accessible game in a series that was plagued with "eurojank", bugs, and clunky mechanics.

 

[DocSeuss]

I didn't like CoP as much as CoS either, I could never quite put my finger on it. Didn't help that I hadn't played Clear Sky, so I was a little lost on parts of the plot.

CS is a prequel to SoC, so it shouldn't matter. CoP is basically "go find Strelok after one of the endings of the first game."

Beta is much better, apparently. I didn't play much, if any, of the Alpha, and if I did, I don't remember it.

Shooting feels great in the Beta. I hop on a few times a week.



Is it actually smaller than the other games? I really liked the map. I would spend hours running missions and exploring. The blowouts were amazing, as well.

I just generally didn't like the "feel" of Clear Sky. I think the stronger emphasis on the rest of the world/factions kinda alienated me, TBH.

I feel like CoP has a more complete/polished experience, in terms of mechanics, bugs, and overall design. I think it is a bit shallower, though.

Maybe "best" S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game isn't right, but I think it's the most polished and accessible game in a series that was plagued with "eurojank", bugs, and clunky mechanics.

It's accessible, yeah. Part of the issue is that I just don't come across interesting things happening in it so much. It feels like they gave up on A-Life. I'll give Survarium another shot, but my confidence was shaken by the alpha.

 

[Denton]

CoP is the best but Stalker as a whole is one of the finest trilogies in all of gaming, anyone who didn't play them is missing out immeasurably.

 

[Anton Sugar]

It's accessible, yeah. Part of the issue is that I just don't come across interesting things happening in it so much. It feels like they gave up on A-Life. I'll give Survarium another shot, but my confidence was shaken by the alpha.

Interesting--maybe I'm remembering one of my playthroughs with mods, but the dynamic events were one of my favorite parts of it. Hearing a gunfight breakout, watching wildlife take out random patrols, or accidentally running across a faction that is hostile towards you were a big reason why I liked it.

CoP is the best but Stalker as a whole is one of the finest trilogies in all of gaming, anyone who didn't play them is missing out immeasurably.

Agreed.

 

[Cerity]

eh, I feel STALKER fills the role of a different type of survival game. Similar to the whole what Monster Hunter/Dark Souls is to your standard fast paced, brawler action game. There's a different focus.

 

[Anton Sugar]

eh, I feel STALKER fills the role of a different type of survival game. Similar to the whole what Monster Hunter/Dark Souls is to your standard fast paced, brawler action game. There's a different focus.

One of my dream games is basically H1Z1/DayZ but in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. Survarium COULD fill that niche, but I don't know if it's going to reach the same heights.

Playing a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game with headphones on is an experience. The sound design, the ambience, the mood--unmatched by all but a few other games.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

Probably the best first person experiences I've had in the past decade or so came from this series. The emergent gameplay and AI systems running in the background, plus an atmosphere that can't be beat just gives you such a unique experience. Some of the most rewarding exploration I've had in a game too, the lore and world building alone provide an immersion like none other.

I just started playing the Lost Alpha a team of modders (I think some former GSC people worked on it as well) worked on which pieces together bits from the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. plus some other areas and missions I believe they added in themselves. The new global illumination/lighting engine they've implemented is leagues better than the base game's, and looks gorgeous. Textures are admittedly dated, but the atmosphere is definitely intact. If anyone wants to scratch that Stalker itch I highly recommend getting it, it's free and doesn't require the base game to play.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/lost-alpha

 

[Grief.exe]

One of my dream games is basically H1Z1/DayZ but in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. Survarium COULD fill that niche, but I don't know if it's going to reach the same heights.

Playing a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game with headphones on is an experience. The sound design, the ambience, the mood--unmatched by all but a few other games.

The beta for Survavarium looked solid from a visual perspective, I hope the gameplay is there as the design sounds like it will cover the bases at least from a multiplayer standpoint.

 

[Jumplion]

Man, this is putting me in the mood for some STALKER. I need ot reinstall it and then redownload that update mod, pretty up the whole thing and get rid of all the glitches. I could never play it for long stretches (and to be honest I chickened out when I got to the dark tunnels for the story. I am not one for scurry games, yo), but I loved all the little intricacies behind it.

Here's hoping STALKER 2 comes out soon and better than ever.

 

[Krappadizzle]

STALKER is still an incredible game. I replayed it not too long ago with a few mods and it's one of the most intense, atmospheric games you'll ever play.

 

[Messofanego]

STALKER, one of the best and most ambitious FPSs ever realised, has a Metacritic rating of 82? lol

I guess it's like when classics now were considered meh at their time like Blade Runner, 2001, and Tarkovsky's Stalker.

 

[human onion]

I see the same issues in modern RPGs. Skyrim and the like are praised for presenting living worlds, and their problems are defended as being side-effects of supporting such complexity, when anyone who has played Ultima IV and VII or the first two Gothic games knows that all those problems and more have been addressed literally decades ago. Years of refinement are constantly thrown out the window in gaming, in favor of solving everything all over again. I swear this problem isn't as notable in other media, although I could be wrong. Certainly, no one had to step back and rediscover how to do fade outs in films; Birth of a Nation came out and that was it, technique established.

I like this post because this is exactly how level scaling came to be. Instead of being able to properly explore a world, everything is at your level so where you go is trivial. It's a solution to a problem that shouldn't exist and in addition causes more problems than it 'solves'.

I remember before Deus Ex: HR came out a major complaint was the glow of every usable object at any distance, with the excuse that players wouldn't be able to pick out the usable items among the clutter. Older games didn't have that problem because there was less clutter on the screen at most points. The previous games also had highlighting when you were pointing at the object close up. Keeping visual clarity seemed like the most obvious solution to me. I ended up playing the game fine without the highlight, so at least to me the problem was nonexistent.

Also, I need to finish the STALKER games.

 

[ClaptoVaughn]

Stalker was so far ahead of its time.

I don't think it was ahead of its time. It was a fantastic game that came out exactly when it should have.

It's that the genre has stagnated and even regressed in ways since then.

Stalker, Crysis, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare all came out in 2007. Two of them were glowing examples of what happens when you push technology to build massive playgrounds and simply set the player free to play on their own. The other one outsold them in multitudes that probably still haunts Cevat Yerli's nightmares.

And we know where the genre went from there.

 

[xir]

has anyone ever played Robinson's Requiem on PC or Survival Kids on GBC?

 

[MattyG]

Awsome writeup Doc!

My favorite genre in any medium is post-apocalyptic fiction, so I love everything about STALKER, even though I've actually played very little of it. Played about 4 hours of Shadow of Chernobyl recently and I loved it, but I think I'm going to restart with some mods installed.

 

[Kritz]

Stalker, Crysis, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare all came out in 2007. Two of them were glowing examples of what happens when you push technology to build massive playgrounds and simply set the player free to play on their own. The other one outsold them in multitudes that probably still haunts Cevat Yerli's nightmares.

And we know where the genre went from there.

If only we could live in the universe where STALKER and Crysis came out on top.

 

[bathsalts]

7 damn years and we still waiting for next truly great FPS.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Also, yeah, +1 for reinstalling the games. Maybe I'll start with SoC.

 

[Lulubop]

I do love STALKER but I could never get into call of pripyat because that one mod would always crash.