STALKER Interview (con't)

FiringSquad: What kinds of weapons will be used in the game?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: We prepare a good bunch of weapons ranging from knives up to grenade-launchers. The pieces will be both Soviet/Russian/Ukrainian, so as Western types. The weapons are going to be realistic or prototypes being currently developed. The overall number of guns exceeds 30 types. This doesn't include the various upgrades you can apply to your weapons, such as scopes, silencers, barrel-attached grenade launchers etc. We did our best to implement the realistic gun ballistics, so as tear & wear (misfires, repairing and so on).

FiringSquad: The last time STALKER was seen in pubic, you showed off the game's multiplayer deathmatch mode. Since then what has been done to expand on the game's multiplayer features?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: We've implemented several interesting modes of play in multiplayer. Those include the popular deathmatch, team deathmatch and original Artifact Hunt mode where two teams fight over artifacts popping up randomly on the level. It should be mentioned that a good deal of singleplayer elements will come with the multiplayer game in S.T.A.L.K.E.R., such as anomalous energy spots, radiation, detectors and the atmosphere of courseJ. There will be up to 32 players hooking in a game over LAN or Internet.


FiringSquad: The visuals of the game were impressive the last time we saw them two years ago at E3. What has been done to improve the graphics since then and will STALKER have any DirectX10 features for use on Windows Vista when it is finally released?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: Through that time we've already implemented a cool DX9 renderer which provides for stunning detailing and a very good picture on screen. Shaders 3.0, millions of polygons per frame in real-time, soft dynamic shadows and per-pixel lighting, the list goes on and on. We're considering optimizing for new platforms like Vista at the moment. Overall, we're very confident of the technology we have on hands.


FiringSquad: Are there any plans for a playable demo of the game to be released?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: Our plans include an open beta-test to be held for multiplayer. We're considering other steps like demo release, but nothing set on that yet.


FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the status of the game's progress and what is the current time period for its release?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: We're targeting beginning 07 to ship. There're still a bunch of gameplay balancing, debugging and localization issues to address, but we're happy of the progress the game's making.


FiringSquad: Are there any plans for mod tools to be released for the game?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: This is planned. No dates fixed for this yet however.


FiringSquad: Finally, do you feel that STALKER will be worth the many years that gamers have had to wait for its release?

Oleg V. Yavorsky: Absolutely three times yes!