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Get a glimpse of life inside the exclusion zone in this exclusive movie.

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You probably wouldn't want to vacation around the exclusion zone that surrounds the infamous nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, which melted down in 1986. But when S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl ships next month, you'll be able to adventure all you want around a fictional version of Chernobyl, set in a universe where the radiation has done strange things to the area. That's because you'll play as a stalker, a heavily armed scavenger looking for valuable artifacts while also battling the mutant creatures and rival stalkers that inhabit the zone. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. blends first-person action with a wide-open world that you can explore at will; you won't be following a linear path, like in so many action games. With the game finally set to ship next month, we caught up with project lead Anton Bolshakov to learn more about the game's advanced features.

GameSpot: Give us an update on the game's development. What aspects of the game is the team working on now?

Anton Bolshakov: We are close to the finish line. The team is preparing the release-candidate version. The feature list is already closed, but we are still correcting some bugs, fine-tuning the balancing, optimizing the game for different PC configurations, and just polishing the game as a whole. So in general, everything is going well and according to plan.

After years of development, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. finally arrives next month.

GS: Tell us about the combat in the single-player game. How true to life are the weapons and damage models? Is the game intended to be highly realistic and punishing for less-skilled players?

AB: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is oriented around realism, so we are doing everything in such a way that the player will feel that everything is real, including graphics, atmosphere, and artificial intelligence. We used the same principle working on weapons in the game.

There are about 30 weapon types, most of them based on real prototypes. Many of these weapons are upgradeable with scopes, grenade launchers, and silencers, just as in real life. The same thing applies with the ballistics. Making apt use of the physics engine, we implemented a large number of interactive gameplay features, which makes the game more realistic and lively. Thus, true bullet ballistics were implemented in the game. To adjust the bullets, we used such parameters as mass, speed of flight, materials-piercing abilities, and environment resistance. As a result, our weapons act very realistically. For example, when you are shooting the Russian Vintorez rifle from long distances, you can see that the bullet is flying in a parabola. That is why while shooting at a target that is far away, you should aim a bit higher.

Real bullet speed makes it necessary to lead your target while shooting at a target that is moving and far away. The same goes for grenades; they use physics, creating physical waves and splinters after the explosion. We also created a ricochet that sometimes can be used to shoot a covered enemy, if you are able to calculate everything correctly, of course. You should remember the ricochet effect so you don't hit yourself accidentally.

Using iron sights is more accurate than shooting from the waist, and shooting while you are sitting is more accurate than shots made while running. You should also take into account the density of materials and the ability to shoot through them--concrete blocks are good cover, while thin metal and wood are not. In addition, we should say that nearly every weapon has different cartridge types (splinter, armor piercing, and so on), each of which has its own physical properties. And don't forget to change your weapons from time to time, as the weapons show realistic wear and tear over time.

We created a realistic damage system where the torso or headshot will be completely different from the hand or leg ones. You will see the proper animations of enemies hit in each body part. After a serious torso hit, the enemies will fall on the ground squirming in pain. The more injured a character is, the more that character's state will change--heavily injured characters will leave tracks of blood (which can be followed). Without dressing a wound, you can bleed to death.

By creating the combat system, we were trying to make it realistic, fun, and as efficient as possible, so we think that beginners will be able to get used to it very quickly. Having familiarized themselves with the weapons properties, players will be able to use them effectively in different combat conditions.

GS: How does the combat in the single-player game differ from standard first-person shooter battles? Will players have to be more concerned about conserving ammo or not being able to heal themselves from damage, for instance?

Detailed ballistics modeling may translate into some of the most realistic firefights yet.

AB: The concept of the player's freedom in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. makes the game a lot different than other shooters.

First, the player may approach the game scene from absolutely any point or position. For example, in order to accomplish the task of eliminating the bandits encamped in the factory, the player may go in with guns blazing, or try sneaking up from flanks, or circle the camp around, or use stealth-style play.

Second, with any tactics chosen, the player will obtain a corresponding AI reaction. The universal combat AI we created is taught to skillfully act in any circumstances. Thus, we gave each non-player character virtual hearing and sight. As a result, combat against the AI would start only after NPCs have spotted the player.

For example, a player could sneak up to an army post, snipe an enemy, and hide. Once the other NPCs spot their friend's body, they will react by raising the alarm and seeking out the enemy. As soon as the enemy is detected, the AI will, while shooting, run for cover, reload, and look out for targets. The combat AI was taught to reload guns and search for new cover if wounded. Aside from individual actions, the AI is taught to effectively act as a team. Thus, in battle the AI characters exchange messages with each other and use suppression fire when one of them asks to cover him, and the rest will back him up.