'xrCore' build 8577, Aug 1 2022 - in development build of the game "STALKER: Shadow of Chornobyl" based on the updated engine of the game "STALKER: Call of Prypiat". It was being ported to eighth generation game consoles, namely the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Most likely, the porting was carried out by the contracting company Elverils LLC (Russia, St. Petersburg) in GSC Game World's stead. The project was not officially announced and was classified until the leak to the public, but before that, a small number of people (besides the direct developers) knew about its existence.

Description

An in-development build created during the porting process of the original trilogy to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game consoles . Game resources were transferred to an updated engine, based on a hybrid of the STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl and STALKER: Call of Pripyat engines, support for gamepads was added, the interface was changed with a focus on gamepad control, but keyboard and mouse also continued to be supported.

Based on the name of the folder with resources ( gamedata- soc ), it can be assumed that the port would contain the entire original trilogy, since the name of the folder indicates the abbreviation of the English subtitle Shadow of Chernobyl , that is, perhaps folders with resources “STALKER: Clear Sky” were planned and "STALKER: Call of Prypiat".

In the file ui_mm_opt_main.script there is a comment in the code from one of the developers, signed as "ovorontsov":

"-- ovorontsov: Рефакторинг[:] нам нужно доставать эти цвета из c++ либо читать [их] из xml-файла color_defs.xml, [пункта] ui_6"

Most likely, he is an employee of Elverils' Oleg Vorontsov, who works there as an interface programmer. According to some information, GSC Game World refused the company's services, but the exact reasons are unknown: either they were too slow in their progress or its due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Changes

Engine

The following changes relate to the modified build engine:

• The initial set of DLL files is compiled into the executable file xrEngine.exe ;
• added support for gamepads from Xbox and PlayStation series game consoles with vibration when firing - vibration is regulated by special XML files linked to the corresponding sound files;
• the engine is based on the X-Ray 1.6 kernel used for STALKER: Call of Pripyat;
• the version of the Lua language itself has been updated, and support for C-like (//) comments has been removed;
• LuaJIT has been updated due to the transition to x64 ;
• added support for videos in MP4 format ;
• aim-assist implemented;
• nVidia's GeForce Experience program identifies the build as the game "STALKER: Clear Sky".

Game

The following changes are relative to the unreleased Build 3390 (Patch 1.0007rc1) for "STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl":

• Despite the use of the X-Ray 1.6 kernel, the game itself uses the xrGame.dll module from STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl  ;
• during gameplay, it is possible to enable console commands g_god, g_unlimited_ammo, teleportation to demo_record, and there are no other development commands;
• errors in XML files have been fixed, since the XML parser in STALKER: Call of Pripyat does not allow syntax errors that lead to emergency termination of the game;
• In connection with the Lua update , some script functions have been renamed, for example, mod and gfind (to fmod and gmatch , respectively);
• in scripts, all C -like comments are replaced with Lua-like ones;
• all videos in the game are converted from OGM format to MP4 , and videos for the PlayStation 4 are changed in width and height (possibly due to some limitations of the game console itself);
• texture parameters for UI console buttons as “fonts” are moved to a separate file;
• added a file ( keyname_synonyms.ltx ) with a list of gamepad buttons to the control binding for PlayStation 4 ;
• in the main menu of the game, switching between lines is accompanied by a short sound;
• the game only has R4 rendering, that is, support for DirectX 9-10.1 is removed, and various graphical bugs are observed;
• Control hints for gamepads have been added to the interface;
• Weapons are selected using the scroll wheel typical of game consoles;
• cursor control in the PDA and inventory has been changed to be controlled by a gamepad;
• changed the appearance of the PDA:
  • the line with PDA tabs has been moved to the top of the PDA screen, the same applies to sections in the “Tasks/Tasks” tab;
  • the “Plan” tab has been removed from the game, its place is taken by the “Journal” tab;
  • the “History” section in the “Journal” tab has been moved to the main navigation panel to the previous location of the “Journal”;
• during Sidorovich's training monologue, the labels indicating the PDA and mini-map tabs are disabled, as well as transitions to the “Plan/Map” (deleted) and “Journal/Diary” (moved) tabs;
• minor text corrections:
  • context menu items in the inventory are written with a capital letter;
  • instead of “wear”, the word “wear” is displayed in the context menu in relation to the costume
  • The name of the tab in the PDA “Data” → “Statistics” has been changed; in resources in text files, the name “Plan” has also been corrected to “Map” (although this is not visible in the gameplay)  ;
  • in the tutorial text about weapon durability, the word “button” was removed to match the format of descriptions of bound keys in other game texts  ;

Build History

In the build, the folowing file change dates can be observed: October 27-28, 2021, November 10, 2021, November 18, 2021, December 30, 2021, March 5, 2022, and August 1, 2022 ( xrEngine.exe file ).

Most likely, the build leak occurred on April 26, 2022 (judging by the dates of the folders and root files).

It can be played on Windows 10 and up only. It is a 64-bit Executable.