How Shadow of Chernobyl changed during development (Oblivion Lost prototypes and beta versions)
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- Опубликовано: 6 авг 2024
- If you enjoyed this video, you can check my Patreon - / pcgi
In anticipation of a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (hopefully) coming next year, I've decided to take a look back at Shadow of Chernobyl. This is a very special game for me, but it's a notorious victim of its own ambitions and hype. After 6 years of troubled development, it went through several redesigns and ended up being a completely different game that developers promised to deliver. From Oblivion Lost prototypes to pre-release versions, this video includes rare alpha footage and tells a story about why Shadow of Chernobyl changed so drastically before release day. Enjoy!
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00:00 Intro
04:26 Part 1 - Oblivion Lost
11:34 Part 2 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost
34:11 Part 3 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2004)
58:19 Part 4 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (the final years) 
Игры
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Do you know which Build took away the bullet wounds? That was always a pet peeve of mine to try to solve in the early days.. and it looks like it it took a good very very long while before we started even seeing it in the heavily modded stuff.. I think it just showed up in anomaly.. but it seems like they had a good system for it in a lot of these builds..?
I will watch it for sure when I get the time!
I so so hope you have the original trailer it was so incredible and I believe it is lost to time.
Thank you for your efforts!
The game doesn't work properly unless we add a demon Sidorovich into every level is the most programmy thing I've ever heard lol
As a novice game dev myself, I needed to add a poorly drawn fish into every level of my previous games in order to make everything work.
I used this fish to store important variables that crashed the game if they were not recognized in a code, so I guess the lovely Sidorovich had something related to this thing as well.
Even tho, I don't understand why they couldn't put his instance OUTSIDE of the maps, like I did with my fish.
Demon Sidorovich should be a monster boss at the end of the game or something. Sort of mutated extra large and strong mix of controller, poltergeist and burier.
Stalker and cs 1.6 will live forever 💪
or the dummy mushroom from Super Mario Galaxy.
@@The_D_ray probably to act as an obvious sign that something needs fixing
just like how programs crashing is a clear indication that something is very wrong
I have to clarify it - ALife is not an AI, but an algoritm that is supposed to create events in the game world by forcing actual AI into different scenarios. Like, bunch of mutants attacking squad of NPCs, or creating 2 opposing squads on one map and eventually forcing them into combat scenario for player to see it, and so on. People often missing the actual Alife for AI. And fact is - ALife is a sole reason for all sorts of amazing experiences in this game series. Even artifacts spawns are controlled by it. Alife is very much the Zone in a sense. And to this day, there is no such system as ALife in any game since Stalker series.
@@ashfoxfour
It’s the souls of the dead trapped inside the game.
Shame that AI and event-generation tech hasn't received the same attention that graphics tech has.
Games like FarCry, F.E.A.R and STALKER were great examples of how to make the game more fun through smart use of NPC AI. I can't remember a recent game that impressed me with the way enemies/NPCs interact with the world.
Piranha Bytes routines system in Gothic 1-2.
1:12:00 deepest stalker lore confirmed - Sidor is a being that holds together entirety of the Zone himself, without him Zone would collapse to itself, Sidor is LITERALLY god of Zone
i mean, yes
Why didn't they just stuff his character model under the map, or in an inaccessible building or hill? :P
@@planescaped probebly didnt want people forgetting that it is a bad bug and should be fixed asap
thats so funny and fcking scary at the same time
@@planescaped because he could get out and cause havoc
I remember struggling to get a leaked STALKER alpha working on my (then very outdated) 3dfx voodoo 5... when the game finally released, I couldn't put it down for months. There was such an air of mystery to it - I wanted to uncover every hidden corner in that world, and that's a feeling hardly any game could ever give again. You can imagine I got some real enjoyment watching this!
I started from having heard nothing about the game, my cousin just handed me a copy one time when they were visiting. So I got to start from a totally blank slate, and part of me wishes I could go back and start again with no knowledge of the series. It probably also has to do with that being a much simpler time...
Stalker's air has that classic brownish/gray sky. ofc it looks interesting
At 13:40 i totally thought i was looking at real footage lol!!!
@@Rjiig123think this is from 2002. At that time, Morrowind released.
39:32 "Duty's base was located in a vegetable store, which is quite fitting if you ask me"
Oh man, shot's fired right there!
*Ivan you see,if you put your base in a vegetable store you will have too much food to not starve unlike freedom*
And then Freedom
captured the vegetable store and duty collasped from starvation
I don't get it. Is because I'm a Duty member?
@@The_D_ray duty is bad,freedom is better.first off the funny zone cant be destroyed,and why destroy it? also gsc game world like freedom more than duty them selves,not only lore but also these facts,you can join only freedom in soc,no duty.In clear Sky they have better rewards than duty, and in cop you can get infinite cash by siding with them. *its all on purpose,totally not a mistake*
NOOO FREEDOM
That glitched Sidorovich would make bloodsucker attacks a joke when it comes to scaring the shit out of someone
This is a must watch video for all Stalker fans out there!
This is honestly one of the greatest video game documentaries I've ever seen, the amount of work you put into this must've been tremendous and it really feel like a labour of love. Personally, I've been fascinated with the STALKER's development cycle since I first heard about it around 2004, so it's great to finally have all the info in one place. Looking forward to your next videos!
51:57 - VERY realistic, bravo GSC. Because this is how you feel in real life when you get punched in the face.
It feels like it's illegal for me to admit I have nostalgia over some of these builds
I remember playing SHOC for the first time in my early teens at someone else's house. Everything about that game just clicked the moment I got my hands on it. The fascinating setting, the mutants, general gloom of the zone. In my eyes, - as an inexperienced child - it was perfect. Then came the dissapointment of Clear Sky, and the great mods for CoP in my late teens and early 20s. In retrospect I think this way the game had a way bigger impact on me than if I had been older, and had been "drip fed" alpha and beta builds over several years.
You deserve a sincere thank you (and a lot more viewers) for this fascinating look into the history of the game I consider one of my most formative gaming experiences. It must have been a gargantuan effort.
You might wanna take a glance at S.t.a.l.k.e.r Anomaly, they released a mod recently, its basically a complete game, it does not require any of the stalker games and merge all three games into one, heck they even added some elements from Metro like the gasmask visuals, enhanced engine, and to make it even better, the PDA is fully rendered in 3D, and the AI got an overhaul to allow for dynamic missions to be randomly generated, overhauled visuals, crafting, etc.
It is basically a remaster of all 3 stalker games :)
Clear sky wasn’t disappointing to me I only dislike the last two hours of the game
@@mariothoughts you mean the first or the last?
@@peppermillers8361 last
@@mariothoughts oh yeah, that final boss fight was not great.
1:05:00 Ah that explains why in Shadow of Chernobyl you become enemy if you manage to join Freedom and its possible, it wasnt cut from the game.
Crazy how the first stalker looks like a combination of Tribes and Turok.
This is such a good documentary I love how you did not miss a single thing and cover the entire development cycle.
Loved every second of this video :).
I'm actually glad Stalker didn't end up having drive-able vehicles. Might have ruined it a bit.
Yeah if they would have added them it should have been a like toggle thing that you can't change for a save or maybe a dlc I dunno
@@HottestTarkovPlayerartifact corrupts car
Radio starts hissing, garbled noises.
Soon it turns on its on making you charge at stalkers unless you turn it away last second.
Collecting blood it can change into a metallic beast.
If you don’t leave you are trapped inside it and forced to watch it until it dies with you inside it at a constant health depletion.
If you escape you have to fight it or flee
This is like gaming archeology. Super impressive, thorough work. :)
Stalker used heavily changed Codename Outbreak:Venom engine. STALKER is a reference to Roadside Picnic as the protagonists callsign there was Stalker
My first experience of Stalker came when I downloaded a multiplayer build that was leaked. I played the Yantar factory map. It was night time, rain and thunder. I hid in a metal pipe that was in the central pit, and from that moment on I became a Stalker fan. Half-Life 2 was my favorite game at that point, but afterwards, Stalker dethroned HL2 as my favorite, and has remained my number one favorite ever since.
“It’s going to be a long journey”
*check time*
A literal hour and 40 minutes of video.
Guess I’m taking this one to the TV
STALKER is my all time favourite game. I completed all 3 games, and Lost Alpha about 6-7 times, but ShOC always amazes me. Even they cut out most of the game, it's still a wonderful experience. I love that even in my seventh playthrough, I find new things, new quests, and I always meet another side of the Zone. I love Clear Sky and COP too, but ShOC is just something else.
And about those builds, man... I have a pendrive full of my favourite ones (1114, 1472, 1842, 1844, 1865, 1935), and I love to play them.
But, 1935, in fact, is kinda sad, and depressing in some way. You know, we have nearly the full game, with cool features, just without the story, or proper gameplay. And it's hard to see that they came so close to complete it, and then everything went wrong. This old Zone was more brutal. Not just in terms of mutants, or the dangers. But psichically too. It would have drained the "life", the mood from everyone who plays the game. ShOC was like this too, but not in this way. And all is left from this project, this vision, is wandering around the big, depressing, nearly empty Zone lonely, with nothing to do, fighting the cut mutants, meeting other Stalkers wandering the same way as us. And they are no more, or no less than us. They are just as lonely as us. No friends, no home, not a safe place to rest. Just gloomy, rainy days, scary nights, beautiful sunsets, and the idea of a game, that would have changed the world. But the time stopped, and nothing is left, just wondering about what would have happened, if we saw this beauty in it's full form. 1935 is like a grave. You go out, bring a flower, and remember the happy times. But, you get sad too. Because you miss something. And, I think I can say that, all of us miss this Old Stalker.
Now I think I go for a walk in this "1935 Zone", and watch a nice sunset from the tower in the Bar. And pay my respect for this (even in it's uncomplete form) wonderful game. Thanks for this video. It was good to have a bit of nostalgia. It was like sitting around the campfire, listening to your stories of this forgotten world.
Take care out there, fellow Stalker!
Lost Alpha?
@@sev3896 What's the question mate?
@@frentzen100 You said you completed all 3 games and you included lost alpha
thought you meant LADC was part of it, oh well
@@sev3896 Lost Alpha was intended to be a stand alone, official game, the 4th one. But because of the leak, it remained just a mod. So technically, LA is a mod, but the original STALKER dev team liked it so much, so I consider it a "nearly" official game. But, of course, it's not part of the original games, I just mentioned it because LA was based on the old STALKER content, and the theme of the video was that.
You sound like you would like "The journey" mod
Even in the first build however, you can see the dedication to detail in the ruble piles and broken walls. In 2001, that was some nice detail. Immersion and level of detail is what really drew me in around 2003-2004 when I first found out about the game.
I've never learned so much about the creation of Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl as this video has shown. There are so many things I already knew, but this video and narration seamlessly put everything together and made many surprise revelations on things that I had made assumptions on or other Stalker Mods had implied otherwise as to their origins and background.
Am I the only one that finds it strange that the beta version had a weapon bob animation but the final released version doesn't? The lack of weapon bobbing always bothered me for some reason and to see it in the earlier versions makes me wonder why the devs took it out lol. Also fantastic video btw!
Yeah definitely.. it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and at least they had a decent sway system to make it not so horrible.. I think you could actually reincorporate it pretty early on as the game was really well noted in its scripting files as to what controls what.. I remember immediately the first time I aimed the pistol.. closing the game, opening up the game files and getting rid of the iron sight zoom... it literally took me a couple of minutes and I was back in but this time I could aim and shoot at the same time lol..
Procedural weapon Bob and reactive animations are something that make or break immersion. It's my problem with doom 2016 and eternal it just doesn't feel like you're actually moving around with the weapons it's almost like they made it incredibly clear of the two separate layers between the view model and the 3D world... Definitely an annoying modern trend that keeps making a comeback.. but they definitely seem to fix it in the sequel expansion pack thingy..
One thing I don't understand is why people seem to desperately think that camera Bob is the answer.. the camera shouldn't Bob necessarily, maybe a little bit to indicate things that you can't translate directly to the player like feel.. but in general movement your player model should be moving.. your player model should be bobbing LOL cuz that's how life works.. it's it's like not even a oh I can't stand camera Bob.. or it's not immersive without camera Bob it's like dude you're not a GoPro.. you're a human. You just have to Bob LOL..
A good Bob and a good sway.. and I know since we live in the days of consolitis, we're never going to get something like free aim to standardize.. but a good like directional shift with your weapon that doesn't just immediately snap back.. that makes a huge world of difference.. just don't do it backwards like a lot of developers do when they try LOL... the weapon moves from the front first... Not the back because you're holding it.. really cracks me up and makes me sad as well.
Great documentary. I became aware of the game somewhere in 2006 as a kid and later, when I finally got the chance to play it I liked it to the point of scrolling endless forum topics about builds. Reading all about that dreams of what this game could be. Thank you for puting all those pieces of information together. Now this picture is a lot more clear in my head and I'm awaiting next Stalker game with some kind of peace about what they're doing. Also, I hope you're safe from the direct chaos of war that is happening.
It always struck me as odd that the teams in Multiplayer are Mercs and Freedom. Surely, the rivalry between Duty and Freedom would make more sense for teams, and red vs. green would even read better, visually, than blue vs. green.
You're so underrated it should literally be illegal, keep up the insanely good work my man!
In 2008 I played a demo build that was given to a local magazine here in Serbia. I thought that I was misremembering the game... or that it was some mandela effect shit, or that i was just a kid at the time and dont know anything... but i played a build version of the rostok bar and I was shocked that it was the exact same thing I remembered back in 2008.
Was it ScreenFun?
The sheer volume of work on display makes this game a masterpiece.
Thanks for making this documentary. The game really deserves it. Judging from the information on previous builds, the game turned out to be more than alright. However, the concept that was hyped (also in the "behind the game" video's), of a non scripted sandbox type of game where the player actually competes against other Stalkers is really something I had loved to see become a reality. Luckily the modding community brought part of that back in the Call Of Chernobyl mod and following mod packs such as Anomaly. If they nail the atmosphere and shooting quality for Stalker 2, AND if it turns out be at least as modifiable as the original stalker series then we can expect one of the best gaming experiences in history.
And I thought I knew S.T.A.L.K.E.R...
Shadow of Chernobyl never ceases to amaze me. Such a long and interesting history.
This is great. Thanks for taking the time to compile this and get footage from all of those builds.
I do enjoy just seeing previous iterations of levels and enemies and stuff. It's cool how big of a scope and such they had but I understand that they definitely needed someone to come along and set milestones for the game in order for it to get released. I have played the Lost Alpha DC mod thingy mostly to see the maps and mutants in a more finalised way. I liked Cordon, Dead City and lake Yantar - although the atmosphere in the official release for Yantar is a bit stronger - and having a few extra labs to explore was fun too.
the glitched sound of sidorovitch is an equivalent to "King's Engine" from One Punch Man - here it's called "Sidorovitch's Motor" and in actuality it's a sound of movement of his bowels after eating a hefty chunk of questionable meat.
Wow great documentary, the old build maps are gorgeous. I wish I can play them in actual game. Really wish there are mods recreate old Stalker concept.
i know this is late
but damn you are amazing for making this
I spend entirely too much time thinking about how the trajectory of first-person shooters could have been completely different had STALKER made its original release date and beat Half-Life 2 to market, with its similarly sophisticated physics modeling and proprietary engine, but a fundamentally different approach to exploration and story progression.
I had always wished someone would make a video like this, a thorough look through the development history of Stalker, complete with commentary. Back in the day RobertQuinlan did a pretty good job with their various build videos, but without any voiceover it was hard to follow everything, made even worse by a lot of info only being delivered through annotations, which have since been lost due to their removal from youtube. Thank you so much for making this video.
I really appreciate how you made sure not to shit on Dean Sharpe - so many forums and debates about Shadow of Chernobyl's development seem to pin all the cuts on Dean Sharpe, when really it was the constraints of a budget, missed deadlines, and plain old inexperience that forced GSC's hand. Great video!
51:56 i felt that
I would have never guessed that modding for the series became a thing thanks to a leaked build. And thank you for putting this amazing video together, i always wanted to watch something like this where all important builds are put together with commentary about what are the differences and progress, thank you for all your effort that went into making this !
To think this game was originally meant to be a linear futuristic FPS taking place on various alien worlds. I wonder how it would’ve been if they stuck with that concept. What a great video
Spectacular video, really.
I can feel the pain and suffering during the entire development, and knowing the complete story of alot of cut contents, made me realize how I was wrong on thinking that they just didn't have time or effort.
Also, I really like to thank YOU for making this video. Can't imagine how hard and frustrating was to follow the various builds and even playing them in such terrible state while documenting everything.
You are a good Stalker.
only 2,25 k subs? no way this deserves more
Man, thanks so much for your dedication, work and time spend playing the various builds to create a so exhaustive documentary, now I can better understand the struggle of the devs and why Shadow of Chernobyl is the way it is. In all this story I Demand myself from where does Stalker Lost Alpha come out? I played it and I remained without words for how much cut content it has ,compared to Soc, and the ways they restored it; Lost Alpha looks like the closer thing to what Shadow of Chernobyl had to be in the devs conception of the game
I love seeing developers putting their workplace into games.
If I remember correctly Fallout 3 has a replica of BGS’ original office space. (Of course located in the city of Bethesda)
probably my absolute favourite stalker related video on youtube
Yet another channel not getting enough credit or attention, genuinely brilliant work.
The setting of the video itself is interesting to all fans of stalker, but the pacing, the footage, the topics and how you present them had me completely infatuated for several hours. I was unable to stop watching, and felt sad when I realized almost 2 hours had gone by, and the video was finished! I can truly say this is great work and I seriously give you all my love and appreciation for such a well done project. Thank you!
To be honest, the build at 35:08 really looked great. And the movement speed and gun mechanics looked better than what we finally got imho, but I ain't complainging too much
This deserves way more views. Tremendous amount of effort was put into this and it really shows, great work!
Man, thank you so much for creating this documentary. You are such a hero for playing all of the builds and going through all of the crashes and stuff, huge respect !
i cant express how awesome this video is! the work you put into it and the time it took. thank you! i had no idea what this game could have been i didn't even get into this game until clear sky was already released. that their vision was never truly realized is tragic.
Great video man, was interested in Stalker alpha builds many years ago, and this is a great video to have a well documented recap. Thanks a lot. Keep up the good work!
Very well-made; brought back lots of fond memories, and presented a lot of info I wasn't aware of! Tnx for the great video!
What an excellent documentary. Thank you for making this! So in-depth, so specific. Love it.
Thank you for making this wonderful documentary! It was really well-structured and your narration was very engaging. Thank you so much!
I dont remeber if I commented here yet, but this material is so perfect, there are so many info, it s well prepared and presented. It is so unusual to find sth like this in modern yt. GREAT JOB.
Fantastic video and many thanks for the detailed trip down memory lane, it's very much appreciated.
Thank you for making this fantastic video/documentary! Can't imagine the time and effort you had to put into this project.
This makes me wonder how much of these intentions will be put into Stalker 2.
What a legendary effort! Huge respect for the work, man!
you know its a good video when you watch it for the third time
This one goes straight into the Favorite videos playlist. I'm halfway through it yet I'm loving the video a lot. Thanks for the upload
What an absolute amazing video. I watched this whole thing through, something I did not expect to do. This truly is one of the best video game documentaries I've ever seen.
I can't imagine how much work this must have been. I had a blast watching this and am legit thankful that you made this. Got my subscription.
What an amazing job you did here, Sir! I watched a lot of videos showing old builds, i remember annoucements when game was already known to be about Zone, i miss the feeling of playing it for the first time. You put together a lot of pieces to show how much passion and work were needed to release this game. With all its flaws, it became the game which still has a strong fanbase, inspired LARP-s, books, ton of mods -something that many AAA titles can only dream of. Thank you for this video !!!
I thank you so much for this video! Must've been a lot of work, but it really paid off. So many things I didn't know, so informative, thank you so much.
After watching through it, I can't help but think that this kind of video was needed. It clears up many questions in a clear timeline. I'm happy you pulled through and weren't afraid of the length of the video.
I've known that mods like Oblivion Lost Remake are aiming to recreate the 'original vision', but I now clearly understand that mod is leaving out the original detective hunt for documents and instead focuses on everything after that concept was abandoned and makes clever use of some earlier levels before they were reworked. It's amazing how it manages to fill in the gaps.
Among the first mods I played was 'Priboi Story', which now made me realize is very close to the original concept of finding documents on your own throughout the Zone.
I was under the impression the developers who created 4A Games left GSC at an earlier time.
Thank you for your efforts.
After watching the whole video: Well... I'm quite glad I stumbled upon your channel Ales. You certainly did an amazing job on this video! And the huge amount of time and work you put into it... really appreciated!
Greetings from Argentina!
What an extensive amount of research you obviously poured into this. Thank you for providing a clear overview of the development of this fascinating game!
Bruh so much work in a video and it only has 5k views
17:25 I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Looks like the normal car physics of modded Stalker. Flawless.
great video, thanks for all your efforts, was interesting as hell!
This is so well narrated and so informative that I watched through whole video with sincere interest
Great video thanks for putting the time in to make it:)
This is the best video on RUclips. I rewatched it way too many times
What a great video! I hope it will reach more people because every Stalker fan should see this!
Amazing Video, it deserves way more views ane was really intresting!
Very good, I really liked the video very detailed and I can see that you've put a lot of effort into making it.
You did a fucking EXCELLENT job on this man and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the great footage you captured!!!! Praying you keep up with this style of content because you really nailed it.
I'll be sure to share this with as many stalkers as I can. God bless from America
Great video! Thanks for the trip through the evolution of the game.
Very good video mate! Thanks for the hard work.
I love this video... Thank you so much for blessing this community with this master piece. Much appreciated Stalker!
19:12 simply beautiful
THE number 1 STALKER. This is an incredible video for dedicated fans.
Woah man, what a journey this video takes you on. Thanks
this is such a well-made video, you deserve a lot more views
This was truly excellent. Well done!!
This is some serious investiogations and digging. Thank your for your time and work, kind sir!
Incredible analysis, i had no idea there was so much behind the scenes. I remember hyping myself up for this game when I was in middle school
*Great development retrospective, keep up the amazing work dude!*
Nice this must been a lot of work, I looked into some early builds myself and even the downloading + unpacking of some was a hustle
Really love this video!
Now I know where all these maps came from that were used in mods (I played Тайны Тропы 2, Народная Солянка and many many more a decade ago)
One of the best documentaries made, you did extremely well!
Thanks for making this. This is awesome man!
Thank you PCGI for making this video!
This is an excellent documentary and while I've struggled through some of the earlier builds myself I must admit I didn't know the full history as has been explained here. Thank you.
Thanks and congrats for this great content you've made!
13:40 that editing was so smooth :P
incredible video. great work.
Thanks a lot for this very well documented and fascinating video.
Thanks alot for making this awesome in depth documentary of stalker. I watched the whole of it with complete focus. Gotta say amazing job! : )