[GSC-Fan]: How and when did you end up at GSC Game World? What projects were you working on?

[Illya Tolmachov]: In 2004, when I finished my study at the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, one of my classmates told me that my diploma watercolor work reminded him of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. computer game.

I said I don’t know about this game and I was advised to join the developers. When I came home I had typed the words “stalker the game” in the search bar and clicked on the first link with a video review.

The Pripyat location in the video was demonstrated to the tune of disturbing music and the English-speaking narrator’s comments. After watching it, I thought: “It’s something new and very serious. I want to work with them”. From that moment on I decided that I’ll get a job at GSC Game World and work on graphics for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

I prepared my portfolio, mailed some examples of my works to GSC and was invited for an interview.

The next day I started work at GSC, but unfortunately not on the project for which I came. The first few months I had to work on the “Heroes of Annihilated Empires”.

I drew different characters from the fantasy world which I’ve never been that interested in, and occasionally worked on convincing Sergiy Grygorovych to move me to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It was completely impossible for me to focus on drawing gnomes and elves while photorealistic Zone landscapes flickered on the monitors in the next room, all of which reeked of dampness and rain.



By that time “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl” was almost finished, all the graphical game content was done, and I could no longer take part in its development. But soon the planning of the prequel called “Clear Sky” started, and Sergiy asked me to take up the post of the art director for the project which I gladly agreed to.



[GSC-Fan]: Where did you work before you joined GSC?

[Illya]: Before joining GSC I worked in advertising for several years. I was doing printing, web design, designing corporate identities, logos, package designs etc. I did a lot of drawing by hand. I was an illustrator for the Eurovision 2005 visual style. Doing all this was interesting... But of course not as interesting as game development.

[GSC-Fan]: What does the work of an art director consist of?

[Illya]: Art director is a person who determines and directs the development of the graphical game content in such a way that the project in its final form looks stylistically whole, harmoniously fits in style of the previous games, but at the same time acquires new visual features which are unique to it. In addition, my responsibilities include:

• Designing locations (creation of terrain maps, sketches of props, architecture, anomalies etc.).
  
• Oversee designing of models and textures for environment, characters, monsters, weapons etc.
  
• Filling of locations with objects in the level editor.
  
• Oversee creation of in-game and promotional videos.
  
• Oversee creation of the game's user interface.
  
• Oversee creation of marketing materials.
  
• Cooperation with outsourced consultants.

[GSC-Fan]: What does a workday at GSC look like?

[Illya]: Usually early in the day we organize a meeting where we report to each other about the work carried out yesterday and determine the priority tasks for today. Then we go to our workplaces and work.

My day generally starts with coffee, checking e-mail and drafting my own work plan for the day. Making a plan I start to draw something quickly. I’m running around in the office with various paper sketches and a pen in my teeth. I give instructions to 3D modelers and texture artists. I discuss something with game designers. A sketch of some anomaly for example. I’m correcting some textures because the modeling of an important object will be delayed without it, and I’m sketching again. If by day’s end all or most boxes of my plan are checked, I'm satisfied.



[GSC-Fan]: Tell us more about those great CG cutscenes from “Shadow of Chernobyl” and “Clear Sky”. Who made them? Why weren’t they in “Call of Pripyat”? Was it about saving time or cost?

[Illya]: The script and storyboards of CG cutscenes for “Shadow of Chernobyl” and “Clear Sky” had been prepared by GSC team, after which the Australian animation studio Plastic Wax specializing in pre-rendered CG for video games has created the cutscenes by our commission.

In the development of “Call of Pripyat” we were limited by a relatively small budget. Also we had complaints about the quality of “Clear Sky” cutscenes created by Plastic Wax. So we decided to create cutscenes for “Call of Pripyat” by ourselves and we decided to stylize them as a documentary. It did not require great resources for the production and at the same time it would add something new to the visuals of the project.

[GSC-Fan]: How are trips for GSC team into the Zone organized? What allows you to visit the key places of the Zone where tourists are not allowed? Aren't you scared?

[Illya]: GSC team is firm friends with Oleksandr Novikov, Deputy Technical Director of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. By the way, he is a visual prototype of technician Novikov from “Clear Sky” and “Call of Pripyat”. He always helps us organize the trips into the Zone and regularly provides us with new photos from the most inaccessible corners of it. Perhaps our good relationship with Novikov and the CNPP administration is our pass into the tourist-closed areas.



“S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky” dev team during the trip to Pripyat. April 2, 2008.

Organization of the trip for photo references for “Call of Pripyat” was performed as follows: first, we decided what locations will be in the project. Then using Google Maps I marked on the map the most attractive architectural sites from the visual point of view trying to avoid those that have already been photographed, after that I sent a map with markings to Novikov. Oleksandr, who knows the Zone like a true stalker, traced the route of our future trip using my waypoints, avoiding places that have too much radiation.

The day before the trip we organized a meeting where we determined the tasks for the upcoming photoshoot account for the tech specs and capabilities of our cameras. For example, cameras with a wide viewing angle were better for indoor, and with a small viewing angle were for outdoors shooting. Cameras with higher matrix resolution were better for textures, and with lower resolution were for small objects. When we started working, each of us knew exactly what we needed to photograph, everybody was busy in their area without getting into each other's way.

As a result of continuous five-hour photoshoot we photographed the whole first neighborhood of Pripyat and the Jupiter Factory. We returned to Kyiv with 17 gigabytes of photos.



Trips into the Zone are not scary, background radiation there isn’t much more than in Kyiv. The harmfulness of our stay in the Zone is compared to watching TV for ten hours.

[GSC-Fan]: How often does the GSC team visit the Zone for gathering material?

[Illya]: It depends. For example, it took more than three trips for “Shadow of Chernobyl” development, one trip for “Call of Pripyat”, and we had no trips for “Clear Sky”. It all depends on the concept of each specific project. If the script provides for a lot of scripted scenes and partially linear walkthrough, a thorough planning a clean slate is better suited for that. Then you get locations like the Red Forest or Limansk. If you want a classic stalkery freedom of action then it’s better to reproduce some pieces of the Zone scrupulously.



[GSC-Fan]: Have you been in the Zone? What are your impressions?

[Illya]: Yes, I was in the Zone once. I’ve already described the trip, it was crazy running around Pripyat with a camera. I didn’t even get the impression of the Zone, there was no time. I remember unusually fresh air, silence and an unopened bottle of Soviet kefir in one of the dormitory rooms. In “Call of Pripyat” you can enter the dormitory building and set up an ambush against mercenaries.

[GSC-Fan]: Why was the Limansk town from “Clear Sky” based on an old neighborhood on Kyiv? Where is this neighborhood? Is it possible to visit it? It seems that the neighborhood was about to be demolished...

[Illya]: In the early stages of development of the “Clear Sky” I was tasked with designing the town location required by the plot. It is known that the plot progresses in a linear fashion at this stage of the game. I had to find an image of a town that would naturally fit into the Zone yet would differ from Pripyat. Limansk was to be an alternative to Pripyat. So I chose the old neighborhood in Kyiv near the metro station Chernihivska as the base for Limansk. This created a mood that was different to that of a gloomy Pripyat. It’s a small and closed off town, it’s abandoned but still keeps its coziness. Anyway, Limansk looks cozy only in the screenshots, insane gameplay almost completely stripped this location of its charm.



The neighborhood which was used as the base for Limansk has been long demolished. A month ago on the Internet I found photos of the ruins of these houses, but didn’t save any of them. Now unfortunately I can’t find them.

[GSC-Fan]: How is a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game created? What is the development process like?

[Illya]: The development team gathers at a large round table and once again tries to put together the puzzle known as “how to satisfy fans, plus to implement new ideas, plus to stay within technical limits, plus to hit the deadlines, plus release everything without bugs”. Game development is a process of solving this one big puzzle.

[GSC-Fan]: Tell us more about graphics in S.T.A.L.K.E.R., please.

[Illya]: If I knew what is meant by the word “graphics”, I’d love to tell you. But actually, I like the graphics in the location that was cut from “Shadow of Chernobyl”. It was called Dead City, there were these wonderful destroyed panel buildings! Now those were ‘graphical’!

[GSC-Fan]: Why are textures in “Call of Pripyat” so faded in comparison to “Clear Sky”?

[Illya]: In “Call of Pripyat” as was expected from us by the players for a very long time, we increased the size of the locations. This led to an increase in the number of objects present in the level. The amount of textures used in one location was several times over the acceptable limit. At some development stage the levels ballooned so much that we couldn’t compile them. In order to solve the problem and deliver locations like Zaton and Jupiter to the players, without cutting off half of the geometry, we added a special limitation to the game when it comes to choosing the texture quality. If VRAM is not enough for the stability of the game at the maximum texture resolution, the game automatically sets the texture slider to the middle of the quality scale.



[GSC-Fan]: There are many characters with faces based on real people in “Call of Pripyat”. How do you transfer a face into a game? Whose faces do we see? Who was the face-model for Strelok? He vaguely reminds me of Sergiy Grygorovych :)

[Illya]: In order to reproduce a person's face in the game we need seven photos from seven different perspectives. You need to shoot at maximum uniform illumination with minimal shadows and maximum possible zoom in order to minimize perspective distortions. For this kind of photography we use telephoto lenses with very high magnification and then shoot from a distance. Using those photos we create a low-poly face model with a special mesh topology for working in a 3D sculpting program and make a detailed face model out of that mesh. From the obtained geometry we create a normal map but with absolutely different topology which is compatible with the game engine. After that we project those same photos on the created model, edit out the seams between the projections, and a photorealistic texture is ready.





Cold, a barkeep from “Clear Sky”, and Vano from “Call of Pripyat” are based on the same person, Eugene Yablon, our 3D animator. Cold is almost one to one to his face-model, but to create the image of kindly Vano I had to change some of the original facial features.

Sidorovich, Sakharov, Barkeep, Doctor and Strelok are fictional characters, they don’t have prototypes in reality (actually Strelok’s face in CG cutscenes from “Shadow of Chernobyl” and “Clear Sky”, and for game character in “Call of Pripyat” was taken from the Australian actor Vincent Stone — editor’s note). The actor Alexander Kaidanovsky was the face-model for Scar. Lebedev was created based on a security guard at the GSC office. Beard’s face-model is an active player of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. airsoft games, Igumen Valerian. Zulu is based on a fan and an airsoft player nicknamed Tur. Major Degtyarev was based on my comrade Oleksandr Poshtaruk.



Cardan and Degtyarev. In real life Cardan’s face-model, Kostiantyn Stupivtsev, is a very cheerful and absolutely non-drinking guy, an interface designer and box art designer for “Call of Pripyat”, designer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. website and many other pretty things.



Professor Ozersky and Cardan.

[GSC-Fan]: Who created monsters like bloodsucker, chimera, fracture, burer, controller? Is it true that snork was created by a game fan?

[Illya]: Most of these monsters were created by the artist nicknamed Lukash.

Indeed, snork was created by a game fan, her name is Sveta. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find her last name. But I found her first sketch of snork. Here it is.

[GSC-Fan]: What was the inspiration for the visual design and work principle of the anomalies besides “Roadside Picnic” by Strugatsky brothers?

[Illya]: Something inspired by Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” and the rest comes from dev’s imagination.

[GSC-Fan]: What lies behind the Duty and Freedom factions? How did the idea to make Duty as “martinets”, and Freedom as “slackers”? Some fans see the struggle between Duty and Freedom in the Zone as an allegory to ideological conflict between ex-USSR countries and NATO in the real world. Is that it?

[Illya]: The conflict between Duty and Freedom has no political implications planted by us. These factions were created different from each other in order to express contrast and difference in visions.

[GSC-Fan]: Why can we play only as Freedom or Mercenaries in multiplayer?

[Illya]: Only for the reason that their costumes are quite different in color from each other, this makes them easily recognizable in the multiplayer match. In fact, you’re not playing for Mercenaries or Freedom, but for “Blue Team” or “Green Team”.

[GSC-Fan]: How does Illya Tolmachov like to relax after a busy working day? I know you love salsa. Why dancing?

[Illya]: After work I like to go to a nightclub, drink some shots and dance with beautiful girls. I love salsa because it’s a completely different world, and it’s not the same as what I’m working with here.

That absolutely doesn’t mean that I am tired of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., I really love this project! But having worked all week long in the oppressive and damp Zone atmosphere, literally feeling a wet coat after the rain on me, I feel great pleasure from taking off that coat, hugging a girl and dancing bachata with her :) I recommend it to everyone.

[GSC-Fan]: What happened to your head?

[Illya]: A cucumber grows on my head. It’s the same cucumber as those which are sold in the grocery store, only bigger in size.

Perhaps it's even edible, but I don’t know. I don’t pay any attention to this, I’ve more important things to do.

The author thanks:

• Illya Tolmachov for the interesting talk and photo materials.
  
• Vitaly Gwynbleidd for help in creating the interview.

Also the editor thanks Maeda K. for help with English translation.

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