Stalker 2's Massive Handcrafted Map Stands Out

[Chidubem]

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is almost here, and from the looks of it, it's going to be a massive hit in the gaming industry if done to the finish without any hiccups. Not even true fans of the Stalker series would have been able to anticipate the massive map size of the Stalker 2 game. And the most interesting past is, it's all handcrafted and is not created using any procedural generation, as revealed by technical producer Evegeniy Kulik in an interview.

The game will feature a 64 square kilometers world, divided into 20 regions, each with different enemies, anomalies and people. As we all know, Stalker 2 is nearing release, and from what we can see, PlayStation players are going to miss out, as the game is slated for release on PC and Xbox. Despite the challenging development period due to the war, the team has cemented the game's title as a true gem in the making, causing us gamers to have nothing but respect towards GSC Game World for their dedication and effort. Just wait to see how hard these developers have worked in creating this game's open world - very uniquely.




STALKER 2's handcrafted open world features biomes ranging from desolate wastelands to dangerous, mutant-filled zones. Powered by UE5, the development team has revealed some information about the game's map, saying it would be a 64 square kilometers open world divided into 20 regions, each with a laser-focus on increasing the level of detail and immersion.

"We have 20 different regions, and in these regions, you may find big locations with big hubs where some different people and different factions are living, but still, you may notice smaller locations and mini locations. The main feature here is that we almost didn't use any procedural generations to create this world, and this huge map is made all by hand of our guys from [the] level design department, so each location you will experience in the game is quite unique," says Evegeniy Kulik, technical producer of Stalker 2.

Kulik claims that learning how to navigate the map, with all its hostile factions and anomalies, will feel pretty much different from before. This will allow even true Stalker fans to find themselves completely lost once more, rediscovering the game's magic along the way.

STALKER 2 may just be another top contender for 2024's Game of the Year Award. With its extra large world and immersive gameplay, Stalker 2 is all set as a strong contender.

GSC Game World has put in their all to develop this game, making Stalker 2 a product made out of passion. And that's the secret recipe to their outstanding game, passion for the industry. If this game is finished without any hiccups or drawbacks, then we've found ourselves a new out-of-league game and a very strong contender for the Game of the Year Award for 2024.

What are your thoughts on Stalker 2 so far? Can this game be the winner of Game of the Year 2024 Award? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[FreedomEclipse]

It's a shame it won't have co-op

 

[Chomiq]

Truly a massive map right there.

 

[Onasi]

I am not exactly sure how map size correlates to the game being a GotY contender or to any quality in any way.
That’s ignoring for a second that GotY awards are mostly meaningless fluff.

 

[BorisDG]

* If it comes 2024. wink wink

 

[mikesg]

Why do the thumbnails only expand 25% larger?

 

[demian_vi]

"As we all know, Stalker 2 is nearing release, and from what we can see, Xbox and PC players are going to miss out, big time."

What does that even mean? The game will be on gamepass, so we don't even have to pay for it

 

[Quicks]

Sure expecting another delay.

 

[Gucky]

Is it big enough?

This Map is at least from March 2023...

 

[qlum]

Personally not a fan of large maps, often it just means the design is more diluted less interesting. Of course the original games are quite old now, a somewhat larger map makes sense but I think 64km^2 is a bit much.

 

[shoman24v]

Someone was drunk when they posted this. If Xbox and PC users are missing out 'big time', then who is not missing out?

 

[64K]

The size of the map and the eye-candy and the artwork are great but it's relative. It could be a huge map filled with too much repetitious boring crap or it could be a map filled with fun and interesting challenges or anything in between. Gamers buying STALKER games aren't looking for a pretty walking simulator. They want a challenging shooter with horror and survival as key ingredients.

This is one of the games that I want to turn out well but I will have to wait for feedback after release as usual.

 

[Vayra86]

I am not exactly sure how map size correlates to the game being a GotY contender or to any quality in any way.
That’s ignoring for a second that GotY awards are mostly meaningless fluff.

Yeah I also am not sure what the editor here is really trying to convey. But the overenthusiastic approach doesn't work for me. Its like reading an ad that isn't one, the cringe is real

I mean sure, game looks promising, but nothing has been delivered yet, chill. Overhyping games isn't helping anyone, I remember a few that came up short in part because of their hype.

Someone was drunk when they posted this. If Xbox and PC users are missing out 'big time', then who is not missing out?

Yeah puzzling indeed

 

[Daven]

Someone was drunk when they posted this. If Xbox and PC users are missing out 'big time', then who is not missing out?

Can the writer of this article come back and help us understand what this means? Is the game PS5 only?

 

[neatfeatguy]

Someone was drunk when they posted this. If Xbox and PC users are missing out 'big time', then who is not missing out?

Playstation - I hear now this is an exclusive to the PS5 only.

Map size is certainly impressive, but is the whole map accessible? I thought it was kind of annoying in the other STALKER games that when you transitioned to a new location there were parts of the map that you didn't get to play through, they were just travel points from point A to point B so you never got to see what was between the locations.

I don't mind large maps, but if they feel empty then it's just a lost cause. There is nothing more annoying than having to traverse a large area and you're just walking, walking, walking.....if I wanted to do that I would play Death Stranding (boring as hell game). I guess we wait and see.

 

[_roman_]

Lets assume it is only 1000 US Dolllar Game Console only Game, I'd advise to add in title [crapstation game only] or [crapstation exclusive game only].

This article is just clickbait.

It's not about the topic, it's about wrong title, which should give the most important facts before reading.

 

[Zforgetaboutit]

There's way too much repetition in the article - obviously padded. Unpleasant to read.

I'm not confident an educated human composed it.

 

[Testsubject01]

Personally not a fan of large maps, often it just means the design is more diluted less interesting. Of course the original games are quite old now, a somewhat larger map makes sense but I think 64km^2 is a bit much.

Really depends! Games which are set in apocalyptic wastelands, ancient wilderness, bigger abandoned areas, open space & planets, etc. may very well work very good to immerse the player.
The hard part is to not use it as a crutch to pad playtime or fall to the trap of too heavily relying on procedural generated events and quests for your content. The player needs plausible ways to traverse the world and fun ways to detect or find areas of interest in this waste space (treasure maps, landmarks, a tool to detect stuff, stories, and quests pointing the player).

It's all about execution, if a large world works in a game.

 

[qlum]

Really depends! Games which are set in apocalyptic wastelands, ancient wilderness, bigger abandoned areas, open space & planets, etc. may very well work very good to immerse the player.
The hard part is to not use it as a crutch to pad playtime or fall to the trap of too heavily relying on procedural generated events and quests for your content. The player needs plausible ways to traverse the world and fun ways to detect or find areas of interest in this waste space (treasure maps, landmarks, a tool to detect stuff, stories, and quests pointing the player).

It's all about execution, if a large world works in a game.

That can be true, personally I find cases where the map is too small to hinder immersion much rarer than cases where the map is just a bit baren. At the very least the original stalker games did not suffer from having a map that was too small. increasing it due to a larger scope is fine, but I feel for a game like this 64 may be a bit much / delute things.

 

[neatfeatguy]

That can be true, personally I find cases where the map is too small to hinder immersion much rarer than cases where the map is just a bit baren. At the very least the original stalker games did not suffer from having a map that was too small. increasing it due to a larger scope is fine, but I feel for a game like this 64 may be a bit much / delute things.

I tried going back to play Boiling Point: Road to Hell recently and it has a 25 square km sized map (according to the info I could find about it). Outside of the random car you'd see when driving on roads or a small outpost outside of a village, the map was largely empty from what I explored. Sure, you had the random animal encounter (snakes or jaguars), the occasional roaming law enforcement or guerilla and some random locations to explore, but it was just boring and mostly empty. At least in Boiling Point you could fly a plane around or jump in a boat and traverse the game world that way.

64 square km (nearly 25sq miles) is massive for a first person game. Hopefully it's not some walk-a-thon with little to do between destinations.

 

[Shakallia]

What are your thoughts on Stalker 2 so far? Can this game be the winner of Game of the Year 2024 Award? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments.

How can we say ? Need to play it first, having a large map is cool, but it says nothing on the quality of the game.

If its bug free, good gameplay, immersive and fun, while demanding gameplay wise, yea, it could be a hit.

 

[evernessince]

Elden ring had a huge map of most of it felt completely empty and had copy paste dungeons.

I really wish so many AAA games didn't focus on size but quality.

 

[rtwjunkie]

As we all know, Stalker 2 is nearing release, and from what we can see, Xbox and PC players are going to miss out, big time.

Did I miss the part where you explain why PC players and Xbox are going to miss out?

 

[Vayra86]

Did I miss the part where you explain why PC players and Xbox are going to miss out?

A quick search says that its actually the PS5 missing out, as in, staggered launch, PC and Xbox first.

And now I'm wondering whether this editor is just ChatGPT. It smells strongly of it and I'm already in heavy cringe mode.

 

[Chidubem]

Someone was drunk when they posted this. If Xbox and PC users are missing out 'big time', then who is not missing out?

Playstation players

Playstation players

I meant to say, Playstation players are going to miss out and Xbox and PC players are in for a big win. Would update the article soon enough.