S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 - TTLG Forums

Muzman on 3/5/2010 at 20:18

Quote Posted by Ostriig

I don't think that necessarily proves the point, though. You mentioned that you saw some sort of similar line running through all iterations of the Unreal Engine, and you're saying that Deadly Shadows' failure to capture the Thief feel may have been also due to the change in engine. But what of Invisible War, then? Based on UE2 and even developed by the very same studio that developed the original Deus Ex on UE1, and yet it's no closer in feel to said original than Thief 3 is to Thief 2.

That was more a point about the difficulties of reproducing one engine's/game's 'feel' in another one.
I leap all over the joint. DX to DX:IW faces the same problem. The similarity I'm talking about is across games made from the same generation engine, not the same family so much (and DX 1's 'feel' is something you'd want to get as far away from as possible, if you ask me. But that's by the by).
I'd also use 'character' in a completely different way to mothra in this discussion. He's using it more as a value judgement, I'm talking in terms of the individuality of an engine.

Sulphur on 3/5/2010 at 21:06

Quote Posted by Ostriig

I agree that there is an overabundance of glossy stuff in your average UE game, and part of it may be due to the lighting system, but it's also due to materials usage at the hands of level designers and artists. And like you pointed out with Mirror's Edge, Sulphur, (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/35896/Beast-Lighting-System-Baked-Into-Unreal-Engine) it's hardly a game-stopper.

And by the way, mothra's argument a few posts up was that UE3 didn't have character, as opposed to X-Ray. I don't know, I'm just reading that as a comment on artistic considerations somehow tied to the base engine. My point is that it's more to do with the favourable impression that the game left in contrast to many AAA titles that use industry-favourite engines and nevertheless suck copiously, and that the game STALKER and its character are not necessarily tied down to X-Ray.

I read his argument as UE3 games generally looked alike, which isn't to say they're devoid of character per se, just good, defining character. Guess it's open to some amount of interpretation.

But yes, you've hit the nail on the head. I agree completely. UE3 does indeed have 'character', it's just that the engine's features are terribly misused by developers. Epic doesn't seem to have much trouble getting good results from its own engine, after all, and GoW has atmosphere that, say, Dark Void lacks. It's a matter of how the art and engine are used together.

Still, seeing how popular UE3 is, I find it a little strange how often its features are deployed in inappropriate ways even from accomplished developers. Bioshock's waxy-skinned NPCs and Mass Effect's weird shadows, for example.

Ostriig on 3/5/2010 at 22:02

Quote Posted by Muzman

Oh, I see, that's not something I'd disagree with. It makes sense that you would see such similarities. The Unreal SDKs have gone left and right, and if the receiving devs didn't do much to adapt or further develop components, I think it would make sense to see a common UT3 vibe and the like.

Quote Posted by Sulphur

Still, seeing how popular UE3 is, I find it a little strange how often its features are deployed in inappropriate ways even from accomplished developers. Bioshock's waxy-skinned NPCs and Mass Effect's weird shadows, for example.

It's true. The pity about Bioshock in particular, though, is that the devs stated having spent a good deal of time further developing the engine itself, having received a still unpolished version of the UE3 SDK as early adopters, but they didn't think to pay more attention to character material properties which appear to have been geared more towards UT3's power armour designs rather than organics.

Koki on 5/5/2010 at 07:28

Old news.

Quote Posted by Vicarious

Yes, it seems new stalker will be multiplatform

Yes, it seems that's it for the series.

Well at least they got it right once.

Next aspiring eastern european studio do-or-die game please.

Axon1988 on 5/5/2010 at 22:29

I agree with Koki, I get the feeling that Stalker has come to the end of it's awesome road. Only 3 years old and it's showing signs of ending. No more PC exclusive with unique graphics and atmosphere.

And yeah, Metro 2033 was the next one, now we wait for some more Eastern European companies to open their floodgates and bless us with awesome PC games.

I pray that we'll get some more unique games. :sweat:

Renzatic on 7/5/2010 at 01:06

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2? MORE LIKE POKEMON 6, AMIRITE? HIGH FIVE FOR PC!

Seriously. I heard that when you get in radiation, you have to play a mini-game that involves waving the wiimote around to blow the radiation away from you. Also they're taking out the guns and replacing them with bo staves.

OH FUCKING SHIT! PAGE 2 IS SUCH A CONSOLE GAMER!

Muzman on 7/5/2010 at 07:53

In the minigame you have to defend a line of your cells from gamma rays and run back and forth swatting them away.

JCHBK on 7/5/2010 at 18:36

Hey there,

Been a massive fan of SOC for years. Played and completed it when it came out, but never got round to playing CS or COP.

I've kinda drifted away from PC gaming and wanted to see if one of my old fav's would be coming out on the PS3.

Seeme like Stalker 2 is en route to consoles, but just wanted to clarify something I may have mis-read while checking out th thin details available - is what they're releasing on consoles a revamped version of the first three games, or something completely new ? If it's the latter, I'm gonna have to play the last two on the PC first just out of respect to the franchise !

Cheers !

242 on 7/5/2010 at 22:33

Quote Posted by JCHBK

but just wanted to clarify something I may have mis-read while checking out th thin details available - is what they're releasing on consoles a revamped version of the first three games, or something completely new ?

The latter.

Koki on 8/5/2010 at 21:23

Quote Posted by Renzatic

u mad?