GSC Gameworld shows what could have been by releasing a 2004 alpha version of the game.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was, for a long time, the shining light of 3D Engine development. At a time when PC gaming was still thriving on the back of solid competition between ATI and NVIDIA, this Russian-developed game looked set to blow others out of the water. It became the bleeding-edge example of 3D that was dragged out at every second NVIDIA press conference to much acclaim.
While the graphics were breathtaking for the time, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s gameplay was almost non-existent. Developer GSC Gameworld made loads of promises about co-op, dynamic open-world gameplay, and an AI-driven environment, far beyond that seen in gaming. This eventually became the title’s downfall, with publisher THQ sending it back to the drawing board to be instilled with some purpose.
In the end, this delay turned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. from shining light of 3D gaming into just another first-person shooter. It was beaten to the punch by Valve’s Source engine, Crytek’s CryENGINE, and id Software’s Tech 4. It still looked good, but so did the competition.
This long, well-publicised development period generated some impressive moments, and a lot of those can now be re-lived by fans, thanks to a surprising moment of developer benevolence. With little fanfare the other day, GSC Gameworld released an alpha build of the game from 2004 on its forums. This version 1935 build can be found here, with torrents linked later in the thread.
From reactions so far, the version is classic alpha – full of bugs, entirely in Russian, and lacking in content. This will be a familiar thing for anyone who has ever designed, tested, or reviewed early code. I’d suspect that most of the content in this build was done purely for promotional screenshots and demos, as it features a lot of stuff that was cut from the final version of the game. This includes some very familiar levels for those who tracked its development.
GSC cites ‘numerous requests’ as the reason for releasing build 1935. Historically, developers hold things like early code and canceled titles close to their chest. While the industry may be accepting of such unpolished gems, your average end user will struggle with the quirks and bugs associated with something that was never designed to end up in their hands. Those who are prepared to tinker with the files, though, can now happily enjoy a glimpse at the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that we all expected to see, without the massive changes that THQ had to implement to make the game playable.
Supporting our habits:
Post new comment anonymously (Anonymous Gibbon)