S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl has been in development by GSC for five years now. They are now promising the game will get a 2007 release. On the stalker game forum they noted some changes:
One key change concerns the game’s storyline, GSC explaining that “under the initial advancement through the game the focus is on the story (player-friendly) content”, although “By the time the player… ‘understand'[s] the laws of the game (and the game is anything but simple), and will get a ‘feel’ of it, the A-Life will run full-throttle.”
Second, GSC says that the rumour that all vehicles in the game have been removed is partially correct. “The use of vehicles is limited. Why? In a nutshell… to let you have fun of playing the game and not the irritation”, it states, adding that part of the that “irritation” was gameplay-related while part was performance-related.
Thirdly, the developer confirms that the previous ability to voluntarily catch 40-winks has been slashed (“only the story-based sleep for cut-scenes was preserved”), while finally it’s confirmed that eating and hunger are still present in the game, and drinking too.
Some words on the long wait: “Why so long and what are the reasons? The most correct answer would be – it is very big and complex. 5 years ago nobody on the team had experience to create a project of such level, and “experience is a son of tough mistakes” as the saying goes. After all, however, we are on the finishing line. We want to release S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in a way to bring you fun and justify the long wait. Thanks to everyone genuinely supporting the project. We love S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It’s our child. A problem child. And you will meet it soon.”