S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl developer GSC Game World has decided to play twenty questions and answer just some of the fan feedback they've been receiving on the sequel of their well-loved FPS series. The Community Q&A session tackled the development of its upcoming S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky as well as other interesting issues.

Read more about what the developers had to say in the full article after the jump!

For those of you who've played the PC exclusive S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, you might be pleased to know that the crew at GSC Game World is considering a console version release for the game after its initial success.

Knowing the FPS nature, as well as the dark, post apocalyptic theme, the game would definitely look pretty sleek if it were transferred onto a next-gen console. GSC project manager Anton Bolshakov stated that they wanted to expand their market with their plans to move to the console. He had this to say on the matter:

PC game development is very traditional for ex-USSR and over 90 percent of gamers here play on PCs. However, we are pretty aware of the tendencies in the markets internationally and have been considering console development for a while.

 
While they have no definite plans just yet, they have been considering this option for some time already. Whether or not this will push through for the recent game or its sequel is still unknown, it's also unsure what platform exactly we'll be seeing their debut on.

Until they have any more news on the matter though, we'll just have to hang tight and see what GSC has under its sleeves regarding the matter.

There's a bit of trouble brewing for THQ's S.T.A.L.K.E.R as German fan site Oblivion-Lost went on strike to protest against issues regarding patches that developer GSC Game World has released to correct bugs in the initial release.

Apparently, most of the bugs in the game were fixed by the patch, but the fix itself became a problem of sorts as most users found themselves unable to load pre-patch game data after applying the GSC fix.

Frustrated, the site decided to show THQ that it means business. CVG was able to translate the text in Oblivion-Lost and it reads: "We are on strike - for so long until something changes and THQ US feel like releasing already completed patches and don't wait for weeks or even months, until the patch is available in every single localisation."

THQ's representatives could not give an official response to the subject. We'll keep you informed on what happens next in this unfolding drama.

 

Earlier last month, GSC Game World announced that it was going to unveil several new titles based on the phenomenally dark world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. at the ESA's E3 Media & Business Summit this July. Beyond all doubt, it was a given that GSC Game World were targeting these new titles for the PC, where the franchise first debuted.

But a report by CVG identified GSC Game World's Anton Bolshakov, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s project lead, revealing a hint of "next iterations," despite very little clues as to whether the successors will come to any other platform except the PC. CVG believes it's definitely not impossible, even though GSC Game World's portfolio of games brands itself as a PC developer.

We can't really tell for sure, but if GSC Game World wants to develop for consoles, there's nothing much to stop them, except another huge budget to save up for. But we guess with creative-hub publisher THQ at the reins, GSC Game World might just give it a try.

 

In an official press release, GSC Game World announced that there were new titles slated up for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, which was a big hit with PC gamers, despite certain controversial mishaps. There has been no mention of the target platforms for these titles, although the GSC Game World portfolio points us in PC direction.

"We are very happy of the players' positive reaction to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. all over the world," said Sergiy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC Game World. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a creepy, RPG-like shooter, recently released worldwide, following a publishing backing by none other than "creativity hub" THQ.

GSC will be revealing the concepts and ideas, as well as the titles, of the games at this year's E3 Media & Business Summit 2007 on July 11 to 13. Fans can be assured that if they head on over to Santa Monica at that time, they will find GSC Game World's presentation at the Barker Hangar, booth #426.

Rumors of GSC Game World using graphical assets from Valve's Half-Life 2 and id Software's Doom 3 for us in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl have apparently been debunked.

The water textures that were mentioned in our post on the issue were apparently gotten by BOTH Valve and GSC Game World from Marlin Studios. Marlin provides all kinds of textures for a variety of uses, including stuff like sci-fi textures and even Elvis.

As for the light texture that was allegedly taken from Doom 3, reports say that it's "just a standard Impact Light texture, rather than referring to the Doom 3 monster."

id Software Todd Hollenshead has already expressed concerns about the whole issue, but also noted that "it would be improper to make any decision about a course of action until we find out whether the claim is true." We guess waiting for more details to come to light paid off.

Various threads all over the internet have been popping up, allegedly containing evidence that GSC Game World's title, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, has been using graphical assets from Valve's Half-Life 2 and id Software's Doom 3. Many believe that the GSC Game World used these images without authorization.

On the MapCore forums, michi.be, created a thread which compares light image folders from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Doom 3. michi.be noted that for starters, while some images were modified, the filenames remained the same. An example of such a file which was given by another user, buddy the designer, who posted the file named "lights_impflash.dds". This file allegedly retains it's name from Doom 3 but was slightly modified for  use in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The left picture shows the image from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. while the right picture shows the file taken from Doom 3.

  

Shacknews asked Todd Hollshead, the CEO of id Software about the issue, and he replied:

I've seen a post on a web forum that claims DOOM3 assets are used in another game, but we've been working hard on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars as well as our own internal project and have not had the time to fully investigate or otherwise verify that the claim is true. Only from what I've seen on the Web, it's concerning. However, it may turn out to be nothing. Nevertheless, it would be improper to make any decision about a course of action until we find out whether the claim is true, and what assets from DOOM3, if any, have potentially been used.

Half-Life 2 textures were allegedly used as well, as Johnny posted pictures of the Water textures used in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and HL2 in michi.be's thread. A lot of readers found them to be identical. 

While id Software has already spoken on this issue, Valve and GSC have yet to comment on these findings.

 

Bad news for the PC game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans out there. GSC Game World's latest patch for its long-awaited FPS shooter fixes 68 different bugs, but replaces it with one very big annoyance instead.

The patch notes for the game state that the v1.00001 fixes the said bugs but makes all your previous saved games obsolete. That's right: the patched version of the video game will not work with old saved games. CVG also reports that to make the patch work, you have to "make sure any saves that were created prior to installing the patch are deleted. You will need to make sure that hidden folders are visible on the view tab of the folder options menu."

Not exactly the best news, but at least new owners have something to look forward to, right?

The online retail store Circuit City is on a generosity streak for the moment, as we pick up word on their current video game bargains for titles you guys may take a fancy to. First up is EA Game's Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for the PC, which will be selling for US$ 39.99 come its release this March 27 (as listed on the site).

Also up for grabs is a copy of THQ's S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl for the PC, which sells for just US$ 29.99. S.T.AL.K.E.R. was released earlier this March 20.

That's just the cherry topping for the rest of their sweet deals,as we report three other games being sold for just US$ 19.99:

• Meteos: Disney Magic (DS)
• Diddy Kong Racing (DS)
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (Xbox 360)

In line with these prospective bargains, make sure to keep an eye out for C&C 3's Xbox 360 release in May, in case Circuit City decides to give this port a discount as well.

 

That nuclear reactor. Those weird mutant creatures. That acronym... At least it's for dang sure it's no longer vapor. THQ is happy to announce the shipping of GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl after what has to be a grueling development history.

Hopefully the final game will be worth it - remember that when this was first announced, it boasted an ambitious open-world gameplay system and rather sharp graphics for its time. TIme changes everything, though. Although in terms of nuclear half-life, Chernobyl's still glowing, so that hasn't changed.

(Come to think of it - in all the time we've spent covering S.T.A.L.K.E.R., do you realize how much of a pain it is to type S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? Can't we just simplify it to STALKER instead?)