S.T.A.L.K.E.R. build 1935 released for free download

SeantheMan

Seen this on Gamespy
Personally I couldn't get on with STALKER at all, but I know there a few fans here, so i thought i'd post it


Link to Article: http://clanbase.ggl.com/news.php?nid=311993

Due to popular demand, GSC Game World has released an old version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - 'xrCore' build 1935, Oct 18 2004.

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Originally announced in November 2001 for a 2003 release, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost as it was known then) was renowned for its long development cycle and frequent delays.

Whilst in development, numerous video clips and hundreds of screenshots were circulated showcasing the game's X-ray graphics engine which featured HDR rendering, parallax and normal mapping, soft shadows, motion blur, widescreen support, weather effects and day/night cycles.

The game was also hailed for its proprietary ALife artificial intelligence engine, where NPCs would accomplish tasks, combat, rest, feed and sleep. The non-scripted and innovative nature of the characters meant that there were an unlimited number of random quests.

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However, when S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was finally released in March 2007, much of what was promised had been cut or changed, such as using vehicles, monsters and many of the role-playing elements.

Now GSC Game World has released a build from 2004 which utilised a completely different physics engine than the one used in the final retail version. This build is fully playable and contains all of the original levels as well as those that were cut such as Dead City, Swamp and Generators.

This version is not so much a demo or mod, but more of an insight into the game's development. Curious fans of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will find this both fascinating and intriguing although may wonder why some elements were removed from the retail release.


GSC Game World have issued a disclaimer where they cannot guarantee stability, so bugs and crashes will occur. They have also said that they will not provide technical assistance.

PogMoThoin

V Interested in this as I loved the game

MooseJam

seeing as how buggy the gold release was I bet this is a nightmare, seems interesting though might give it a download, thx

Atlas_IRL

I hated it pld it for an hour or 2 and never went back, free is always nice though

chamlis

I wouldn't be surprised if this was actually more stable than stool.

Deffo check this out, sadly missed the A-life.

humanji

Gave this a shot earlier. It's actually pretty stable, except that it crashes when you hit esc, and I keep automatically hitting it when I want to pause the game (but I'm an idiot, so it's my problem, really).

Sadly with all the txt in Russian, I've no idea what's going on. I just wander around killing people. I'm not sure if there's a problem with sound triggers or something, but the game keeps playing weird screams and stuff every now and again. It makes the game less of the action game the release was, and more of a horror/mind-f*ck. It's really freaky.

Actually, I started playing it again and there's even more things that I love about this now. There's zombies wandering about that I'm not sure if they were in the release. There's also a real ricochet system. I was in one of the buildings with pillars and when I shot them the bullets seemed to bounce all over the room. Granted that could be some really bad targeting on behave of the engine, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

I also noticed that you're invincible in the game and that only headshots count. That last bit should save you a lot of frustration!