Hey guys, thank you for all your amazing support! :) If you enjoyed this video, I would really appreciate it if you'll check my latest in-depth documentary about the early days of computer gaming industry - kzread.info/dash/bejne/o611m7WYkrKxqqw.html It features exclusive interviews with prominent developers of the 80s and AI enhanced footage from old computer TV shows! More cool stuff coming soon, and I still plan to make at least one more video related to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise once I get back on my feet. So don't forget to subscribe and spread the word!

@jakedill1304

10 ай бұрын

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..?

@Dennis-ud2nh

9 ай бұрын

I will watch it for sure when I get the time!

@dorjedriftwood2731

5 ай бұрын

I so so hope you have the original trailer it was so incredible and I believe it is lost to time.

@rmanMMVII

4 ай бұрын

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

@The_D_ray

2 жыл бұрын

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.

@jag0937eb

2 жыл бұрын

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.

@savage-kc1nz

Жыл бұрын

Stalker and cs 1.6 will live forever 💪

@Natalie-qm3ys

Жыл бұрын

or the dummy mushroom from Super Mario Galaxy.

@zjanez2868

9 ай бұрын

@@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

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

@LilTachanka

2 жыл бұрын

i mean, yes

@planescaped

Жыл бұрын

Why didn't they just stuff his character model under the map, or in an inaccessible building or hill? :P

@glitchyjoe64

Жыл бұрын

@@planescaped probebly didnt want people forgetting that it is a bad bug and should be fixed asap

@StalkerStiv

Жыл бұрын

thats so funny and fcking scary at the same time

@travistreadway3180

Жыл бұрын

@@planescaped because he could get out and cause havoc

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.

@flowerthencrranger3854

6 ай бұрын

@@altf4four It’s the souls of the dead trapped inside the game.

@josedorsaith5261

2 ай бұрын

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.

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!

@southernbrain691

2 жыл бұрын

*Ivan you see,if you put your base in a vegetable store you will have too much food to not starve unlike freedom*

@southernbrain691

2 жыл бұрын

And then Freedom captured the vegetable store and duty collasped from starvation

@The_D_ray

2 жыл бұрын

I don't get it. Is because I'm a Duty member?

@southernbrain691

2 жыл бұрын

@@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*

@atheadax

2 жыл бұрын

NOOO FREEDOM

That glitched Sidorovich would make bloodsucker attacks a joke when it comes to scaring the shit out of someone

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!

@Tekisasubakani

Жыл бұрын

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...

@weplo1597

7 ай бұрын

Stalker's air has that classic brownish/gray sky. ofc it looks interesting

@Rjiig123

4 ай бұрын

At 13:40 i totally thought i was looking at real footage lol!!!

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!

This is a must watch video for all Stalker fans out there!

51:57 - VERY realistic, bravo GSC. Because this is how you feel in real life when you get punched in the face.

I'm actually glad Stalker didn't end up having drive-able vehicles. Might have ruined it a bit.

@HottestTarkovPlayer

12 күн бұрын

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

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.

@ozozozozozozozozozozozozozozoz

2 ай бұрын

Was it ScreenFun?

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.

@Elenrai

3 жыл бұрын

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 :)

@mariothoughts

2 жыл бұрын

Clear sky wasn’t disappointing to me I only dislike the last two hours of the game

@peppermillers8361

2 жыл бұрын

@@mariothoughts you mean the first or the last?

@mariothoughts

2 жыл бұрын

@@peppermillers8361 last

@peppermillers8361

2 жыл бұрын

@@mariothoughts oh yeah, that final boss fight was not great.

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 :).

This is like gaming archeology. Super impressive, thorough work. :)

@ivanmonahhov2314

2 жыл бұрын

Stalker used heavily changed Codename Outbreak:Venom engine. STALKER is a reference to Roadside Picnic as the protagonists callsign there was Stalker

“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

It feels like it's illegal for me to admit I have nostalgia over some of these builds

@Skyrim29293

10 ай бұрын

Nah the devs leaked a lot of them they even leaked the og stalker 2 years ago though that's been lost and was only a tech demo

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.

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.

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!

@sev3896

2 жыл бұрын

Lost Alpha?

@frentzen100

2 жыл бұрын

@@sev3896 What's the question mate?

@sev3896

2 жыл бұрын

@@frentzen100 You said you completed all 3 games and you included lost alpha thought you meant LADC was part of it, oh well

@frentzen100

2 жыл бұрын

@@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.

@benjapizarro981

2 жыл бұрын

You sound like you would like "The journey" mod

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.

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.

x-ray went from being mindblowing in 2001 to a complete joke by 2008. I will never forgive THQ for their crimes against this IP. Thank you so much for this, by the way. I love to learn about STALKER, even well over a decade later, and having a timeline like this is great.

@MintyLime703

4 ай бұрын

How is THQ even remotely responsible for that? That was entirely on the devs for aiming way too high. Even with THQ putting their foot down the game STILL didn't come out until 3 years after it's original release date. Most publishers wouldn't put up with that. If it weren't for them this game wouldn't have made it til 2004, let alone 2007. I really don't even know what you're even talking about. The X-Ray engine had its problems, but it certainly wasn't a joke. Graphically the mods we have today are a refinement of what's already there, and what's there is impressive. And A-Life still accomplishes the feeling it was meant to give and is way more coherent than what we would've gotten originally.

@pamew

4 ай бұрын

@@MintyLime703 the mods today look good because they're based on a complete reengineering of the engine by the community, and make use of post processing provided by third parties.

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.

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.

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 !

You're so underrated it should literally be illegal, keep up the insanely good work my man!

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.

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!

@jakedill1304

10 ай бұрын

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.

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.

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.

This deserves way more views. Tremendous amount of effort was put into this and it really shows, great work!

Yet another channel not getting enough credit or attention, genuinely brilliant work.

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

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.

What an excellent documentary. Thank you for making this! So in-depth, so specific. Love it.

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!

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 !

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 a legendary effort! Huge respect for the work, man!

Fantastic video and many thanks for the detailed trip down memory lane, it's very much appreciated.

Thank you for making this wonderful documentary! It was really well-structured and your narration was very engaging. Thank you so much!

Thank you for making this fantastic video/documentary! Can't imagine the time and effort you had to put into this project.

17:25 I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Looks like the normal car physics of modded Stalker. Flawless.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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 !!!

Very good video mate! Thanks for the hard work.

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

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.

Amazing Video, it deserves way more views ane was really intresting!

Thanks and congrats for this great content you've made!

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.

This is so well narrated and so informative that I watched through whole video with sincere interest

I love this video... Thank you so much for blessing this community with this master piece. Much appreciated Stalker!

Great video! Thanks for the trip through the evolution of the game.

great video, thanks for all your efforts, was interesting as hell!

Very good, I really liked the video very detailed and I can see that you've put a lot of effort into making it.

One of the best documentaries made, you did extremely well!

This is the best video on KZread. I rewatched it way too many times

Great video thanks for putting the time in to make it:)

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.

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

Gran vídeo, me gustó mucho. Gracias por hacerlo. ♥

What a great video! I hope it will reach more people because every Stalker fan should see this!

*Great development retrospective, keep up the amazing work dude!*

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)

This is some serious investiogations and digging. Thank your for your time and work, kind sir!

Thanks a lot for this very well documented and fascinating video.

Thank you PCGI for making this 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! : )

This was truly excellent. Well done!!

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!

God bless!!! You deserve way more subs, I hope to see you get the recognition you deserve!

Well done! Thank you for this nice documentary.

Woah man, what a journey this video takes you on. Thanks

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.

Amazing work man! Really appreciated!

That was absolutely amazing! Thank you!

Really nice video. Thanks for making it.

I only can say that the video is amazing. It is very useful to understand the SoC. Thanks for your hard work.

this is such a well-made video, you deserve a lot more views

Great video! I saw your sub count and was shocked, you deserve Way more subs and views.

Very interesting video, i watched all of it!

Awesome and informative! I just finished my first playthrough of STALKER after being a back seat gamer for a friends playthrough after launch in 07 and had a wild 30 hours! Videos like this are fascinating slices of a different time in gaming for sure

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)

Really well made documentary, keep doing good job

probably my absolute favourite stalker related video on youtube

Thanks for making this, this was a really cool documentary

Thanks for making this. This is awesome man!

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.

This is an amazing video, thank you!

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

Fantastic video. Well structured, explained and very informative. See you in the zone in STALKER 2 my friend.

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

thank you for doing this video i am so pumped right now i remember playing a little bit of the oblivion lost mod where all those maps that were cut from the original were still there, now i want to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. i even have several mods installed on my computer right now, well it is time to spend several weeks or even months stalking around the zone

Amazing documentary! Thank you very much!