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Fare thee well
Neophyte
Oh god please be as sexy and good as you look!
CamHostage
Member
So... I see a lot of this response of, "Oh man, it's UE5, at last, bringing the next-gen!", and yeah, Unreal Engine 5 is in there, but I think that's actually an over-assumption of what's going on here. Let's not diminish what the team GSC Game World really worked hard to make just because there's a new hot engine that's making high-spec work look easy.
Don't thank UE5 for how great this looks. Thank the development team.
GSC has been working on STALKER 2 since at some time before 2018 (after that initial false-start some time around 2010.) The released a first trailer in July of 2020, and released a in-engine gameplay teaser later that December (unsure but this first trailer may be in-game engine rather than some CGI contractor doing its work.) Then they ran a playable sequence in June of 2021, and they're readying the game to ship this April in 2022.
On the Unreal Engine 5 side, we don't have a complete timeline for which pilot partners were working with Epic and for how long in testing UE5, but we do know that The Coalition (who were chosen by Epic to showcase and speak about UE5 development at this year's GDC, and they were tasked with evaluating UE5 for Microsoft Xbox Game Studios. They only started their work on the engine in November of 2020. (Epic of course had previously revealed the engine in May of 2020 through its amazing internal demo, but even as late as October, The Coalition was working on its "evaluation" project of UE5 by building in UE4 so they could convert it once they had a build of UE5.) A select few developers did get UE5 private builds before the official Early Access build in May of 2021, but not that much before, and if The Coalition of all companies didn't have it until the end of 2020, likely nobody else did either...
Point is, it's not the "heavy lifting" of Unreal Engine 5 making this magically all happen. GSC has been working hard on this game with Unreal Engine 4 for most of its development time. Almost everything we have ever seen of STALKER 2 has (in all likelihood) been UE4 footage, before they were even able to update it and test further upgrades. UE4 is still incredibly powerful (especially if you know what you're doing and build your own systems to push it where you need to go,) and if you throw a shit-ton of high-quality assets (say 180GB or so) at it, and if you target only high-spec machines which can handle everything you're trying to throw at it. you can make a very pretty game. Then, UE5 comes in and helps with its extraordinary new features... but they would have been additive to the STALKER 2 development process, not transformative. GSC already had their game on track, with or without UE5.
(In fact, I'd kind of be surprised if the team is actually relying on the new features of UE5 too much? They would have already made systems or found tools in 2018/2019 to make some of what UE5 does happen in a different way. Not Nanite, but for example there was several alternatives to Lumen before UE5, and will still be others that compete with or collaborate with Lumen even once UE5 launches. GSC has for sure done some evaluation of features like Lumen and swapped functions in where it worked best, but it's quite possible they'll still ship with their own GI and lighting systems still in place. Unless there's a massive and advantageous difference, they'd have to be careful about the choice to throw out everything that's already working well when moving full-speed towards the finish line of shipping the game.)
We can talk about those 2020 demos and what could be "bullshots" versus realtime in-game, but if STALKER 2 wasn't actually ready to realize what GSC had shown in 2020 without UE5 "powering" it, they would have been fucked if Epic hadn't actually been ready to bring out UE5 as soon as it has.
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xpresstuning
Member
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl with the Zone Reclamation Project (for bugfixes and some optional QoL improvements) is the best entry point because it's a perfection introduction to the Zone - the world in which the game takes place. You've got options here. You can play it as is with ZRP, or you can slap a significant facelift with my package - XpressTuning's Ultimate Edition. The most important thing here is to get accustomed to the Zone, learn the game and finish it.
After that, i would recommend jumping straight into S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anomaly. You don't need to play the rest in the series if you don't want to, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anomaly is the best possible S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game in existence.
There are about a million options wen it comes to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and how to play them because it has one of the most dedicated communities i have ever seen that have kept the games relevant and up to date all these years, but generally speaking the above is what i would recommend.
FlyyGOD
Member
Trolls gonna Troll.
ikbalCO
Member
Sentenza
Member
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SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
It's still GSC, same as the first, but since the original GSC closed and this is essentially a new company created by some of the vets of the old one. They're based in Ukraine.
Mister Wolf
Member
onesvenus
Member
That would leave Xbox with a very dire first half of the year.
Thinking about buying a PS5 for HZD and some of the last year games
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winjer
Member
Maybe they are more concerned about making the game, than making trailers and bullshots.
Remember CP 2077 or BF 2042. Lot's of trailers and marketing. So much money and effort that should have gone into making the game.
Mister Wolf
Member
Got a link?
Draugoth
Gold Member
The Cockatrice
Banned
Not really a shock if true. I said this a few times, game was announced too sudden, with some "gameplay" trailer that just looked too good for devs that havent made a game in ages(most of the og went to metro anyway afaik) then they announce NFT's lmao. This whole project just stinks. Even if it does pop up in April, I would wait until there are actual gameplay videos/playthroughs from people.
amigastar
Member
Hmm, sounds reasonable.
J3nga
Member
By any means quality over faster delivery.
Only if you’re part a niche group of gamers who only play AAA exclusive titles and absolutely refuse to get Gamepass.
Kena was one Of the best looking games of 2021, made by devs who’d never made a game before.
The Cockatrice
Banned
Kena had Epic and Sony backing.
S0ULZB0URNE
Member
My most anticipated XSX 2022 release.
How many times are they going to delay this? Fuuuuu
onesvenus
Member
I do have Gamepass but I haven't bought an XSX to play "old" or indie titles
mckmas8808
Banned
I don't think that's a great thing to say lol
daveonezero
Banned
The original was a game I liked so much but my PC was never quite up to snuff to really run it well.
I tried so many times to play it and usually only got a few hours in but just playing that first area and poking around was so satisfying.
Really my type of game. I hope this one recapture and expands on what they were trying to do in the original and expansions.
I tried so many times to play it and usually only got a few hours in but just playing that first area and poking around was so satisfying.
Really my type of game. I hope this one recapture and expands on what they were trying to do in the original and expansions.
WitchHunter
Banned
Who the fuck made these below the average pictures? Do they have a monkey that presses a red button every time it has the urge or wtf? They created a whole fucking universe and the press shots look like shit, why?
Hmm. I don’t believe Outriders and MLB at launch were considered Indie titles or old games, but who am I to dispute your idiosyncrasies?
MS tends to fill up their gaps with third party AAA deals for Gamepass. They’re starting up with Rainbow Six this month. They’ll most certainly have more deals in H1 2022.
Try to put some thought into these discussions.
Same way STALKER 2 has MS ‘backing’ for timed exclusivity. Yet you’re convinced they can’t make a visually impressive game despite them showing a gameplay demo.
onesvenus
Member
Those weren't but there's nothing like that announced
amigastar
Member
Nah, i think you will be okay with a RTX 2070 especially with DLSS. I have a RTX 2060 OC, and i also will be ok.
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The Cockatrice
Banned
Dont worry dude, I wasnt conviced on Kena either, still haven't played it and I'm sure most say it looks good but it has barely been the talk. I'll doubt stalker 2 looks like that until I play it.
You know there will be, though. They've got a subscription service to provide content for.
Starts with Rainbow Six in a few days.
El Pistolero
Banned
Maybe...maybe not...
I have all the consoles and I can empathize with this. It’s tough to get the time to game these days between work, family life and working on my side projects.
Perhaps best to ease into these things with smaller games. So stuff like Kena and the upcoming Sifu on PS5.
Yeah, I’d recommend something like Sifu. Probably lower stress levels than the likes of Elden ring, good fun and should be relatively short.
It’ll have tough competition with the likes of God of War and Horizon Forbidden West. Not to mention GT7 and Forza Motorsport.
But if the gameplay they've shown is any indication, it should be up there with the best. It looks spectacular
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Fools idol
Banned
not to be that guy but how technically competent are the devs? I remember the first game vaguely for its amazing atmosphere but it was janky as sin no?
Sentenza
Member
Well, it's not like the technical competence of the first game (which was still impressive in several ways) is of particular relevance, in general, given that there aren't more than a handful shared devs between the two projects.
The studio that made the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was shut down in 2011 or so. Then the former studio owner went around doing some shenanigans trying to monetize the IP before the announce of an upcoming rebooted development of S2 from a completely new studio came out of nowhere few years ago.
EDIT- Fuck, accidental gravedigging. I mixed few threads I was watching in parallel and I thought I was answering to a new reply on the most recent one.
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