Stalker dev GSC goes under?

[HeXen]

sounded like the PC platform alone just doesnt do well for such games.

STALKER 2 was going to become PC exlcusive, which isn'ta great future for story-driven game.

then this here doesnt sound like Stalker will see another day

4A Games, creators of original STALKER. And they're not exactly friends with Grigorovich. As for other Eastern European developers (from Poland or Bulgaria) - I don't believe they can do STALKER 2 justice. Some are just too good to work for IP that is not their own and some don't have enough experience.

 

[Pacman4]

oh dear, so I just dled the complete mod for Cop, reintsalled Cop and proceeded to play for a few minutes, but damn, what an ugly game maxed at 1200p{2xaa though}, and the gun sounds suck, the game mechanics are worse than Far Cry 2004, bullet ejection looks pathetic.....so stuff that, I deleted it and have now reinstalled Clear Sky just to have a look at the GFX, but I suspect that will suck as well.

The pop up dialogue box is a huge immersion breaker as well......so I guess after being exposed to more games since I last played these, they've been exposed as somewhat lacking.

 

[Pacman4]

bah, Clear sky don't look much better, but does seem like a slicker game, so Cop seems to have went backwards on everything.
So unless they were going to make a modern looking/working game, then no great loss if u ask me......good concept as a game series, but poor execution.

 

[Smartazz]

Great series of games. Sad to see them go. I own all three of them, but I haven't finished the 3rd one yet.

 

[Zenoth]

I just thought of something.

Was any work done on STALKER 2 before they dissolved the team? If that's the case then the assets that were created, whatever they were be it from concept art to scripts or coding and textures... it could be bought by another development team out there whom could resume where it was left off by the original team. I'm thinking that STALKER 2 might follow a similar path to that of Duke Nukem Forever in the sense that eventually (even if it takes years) some developer out there will "complete" it.

Hopeful thoughts only I guess.

 

[Darklife]

The Ukrainians are speculating that this is just a PR stunt, under the premise of moving their office and closing down the old one. Additionally they found some job offers from GSC from December the 5th

 

[you2]

You mean they copied Gog's stunt ?

The Ukrainians are speculating that this is just a PR stunt, under the premise of moving their office and closing down the old one. Additionally they found some job offers from GSC from December the 5th

 

[Martimus]

I just installed Clear Sky on my computer after reading this stuff, and TAGES is trying to install drivers to run the game. Before I let it do this, do any of you know what TAGES is trying to do with this DRM? I'd rather leave TAGES out of my new build if at all possible, but if it isn't anything to worry about I guess I will let it install.

 

[Darklife]

Well, now it seems that it might be for realz. Their facebook page just gave some cryptic info, telling us that the website and clothing shop will go on, but where that leaves the studio itself I have no idea.

According to some poorly translated text from a Ukrainian fan-flash mob outside GSC's office, there are ongoing negotiations about the studio's future.

 

[Munky]

That sux, I have all the Stalker games and enjoyed them more than the typical garbage touted to the ADHD crowd these days.

 

[duragezic]

Dang, this stinks.

Although the Stalker games had their flaws and bugs, they were great. I personally liked using mods for SoC and Clear Sky to fix some of the more annoying parts. I bought Call of Pripyat last Steam Christmas sale and STILL have yet to play it. Need to though.

I bought Fallout New Vegas last month and having a lot of fun with it. It's quite a bit like the Stalker games with a little more RPG side to it. Still has its share of bugs and no great combat but overall still very good. Playing it made me realize I needed to play some Stalker CoP.

Although I do like how although Fallout has weird ass monsters, it's not like a scary game. At night is not that dark. In Stalker, night is super dark and weird shit pops up on you scaring the shit out of you, which I'm not a big fan of. I can just deal with Stalker though.

 

[Rifter]

I actually have a feeling Steam was a factor. I haven't played all three STALKER games yet, but for the price Steam was offering during the holiday, GSC couldn't be making that much off of it.

You do realize steam has absolutly nothing to do with the price right? the publisher/devs set the price. So if you think steam killed them then what you really are saying is they(the devs) were to stupid to realize they were setting the price to low and were screwing themselves into going under.

EDIT forgot about the OP:

I hated the stalker games, I own them all and could never get into them. I would force myself to stick with them for 1-3 hours but by that time i just couldnt take it anymore. Maybe its because i grew up playing twitch FPS games(UT 99, Rainbow 6) but the hit detection of these games was HORRIBLE, worst i have ever seen in any FPS game. Its like your character has never fired a gun before and doesnt improve over time spent shooting in the game. Perhaps i will revisit them with mods.

 

[Dankk]

You do realize steam has absolutly nothing to do with the price right? the publisher/devs set the price. So if you think steam killed them then what you really are saying is they(the devs) were to stupid to realize they were setting the price to low and were screwing themselves into going under.

Well, that, and I don't think he understands Steam sale economics. Sales aren't there to screw over the developer. Sales make MORE money for the developer, not less. If it worked differently, then why would there be any sales in the first place?

When Stalker: SoC appears on sale for $5 over the weekend, far more people will buy it than if the game were to remain it's regular $19.99 pricetag. Of course they can't afford to have it at $5 all the time, so they let everyone buy it at regular price who are willing to pay for it. Eventually they put it on sale for 75% off in order to reach the penny-pinchers, and other people who wouldn't have bought it otherwise. In the end they maximize the amount of buyers they could potentially have while making the most profit. It's a win-win situation.

Tragically, there are multiple reasons why GDC is shutting down. Steam sales aren't one of them.

 

[WelshBloke]

Awww.

I was looking forward to S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Tentacles over Fukushima.

 

[IGemini]

So getting all three games for ~$10 was GOOD for GSC? All I said was they MIGHT not be making a lot of money on THAT deal, because even if Steam didn't get a dime, it's not a lot of money per sale. I voiced a suspicion countering piracy, don't draw more interpretation than that.

It actually turns out that GSC is not closing but they're having trouble.

 

[santz]

NO way............. i absolutely loved the series, this was the reason why i loved FPS.......

you will be dearly missed.

still cant believe it

 

[Gibsons]

I just thought of something.

Was any work done on STALKER 2 before they dissolved the team? If that's the case then the assets that were created, whatever they were be it from concept art to scripts or coding and textures... it could be bought by another development team out there whom could resume where it was left off by the original team. I'm thinking that STALKER 2 might follow a similar path to that of Duke Nukem Forever in the sense that eventually (even if it takes years) some developer out there will "complete" it.

Hopeful thoughts only I guess.

IIRC, they were making a new 3d engine. Wonder if how much design and artwork could be ported over to some other engine?