S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl/Unused Graphics

Early mugshots


A file containing early mugshots for all of the characters can be found in the “ui” folder in the texture folder. These mugshots are smaller than the ones in the final game. Some of these mugshots have unused locations, like the Swamps, behind them.

The mugshots shown on the sheet were used in several prototypes, such as the 21xx and 2207 builds.

Note that the large character sprites in the graphic do appear in the final game. They show what armor your character is wearing in the inventory.

Early icons


A sheet sowing early icons that would appear during various events, such as getting a new quest, failing a quest, hearing an NPC broadcast a message, or getting a reward can be found in the “ui” folder. These are much smaller and simpler than the ones that appear in the final game.

These icons are used in several prototype builds.

Map icons


A sheet of icons meant to appear on the map are in the “ui” folder. These were meant to track the movement of various characters in a level. For example, a Duty NPC would have an icon of a generic Duty NPC on the map, while a helicopter flying by would have an icon on the map showing it's flight. Icons like these appear in quite a few prototypes. They were probably removed because they can quickly make the map look cluttered.

Old PDA background texture
An unused background for the PDA can be found in the “UI” subfolder in the “textures” folder. This texture uses a PDA shape that is blockier than the one used in the final game and has some different details, such as no green and red lights on the left-hand side of the PDA. This design was used in some prototypes, such as Build 1935.

Unused Russian PDA design
It seems that they wanted the PDA to have a different design between the Russian and English versions at one point. The final design was meant to be the background used in English version, while the Russian PDA background would be based on a Samsung design. However, the final Russian and English PDAs use the design meant for the English version.

PDA Category graphics


Hidden in the same folder that has an unused PDA mentioned above is a piece from a very early PDA interface. It seems that they originally designed the PDA to use the art style the inventory, talk and trade screens use instead of making an all-new interface that looks like you're actually interfacing with a PDA. Some of the categories are misspelled.

Early inventory icons
There is a sheet of early inventory icons in its own separate folder called “icons” in the texture folder. This sheet has a lot of interesting material in it, such as weapons with earlier skins, and most notably, items that never appeared in the final version. These items were covered in the “unused weapons” section.

What's interesting is that this icon sheet has been in the game since the 14xx and 15xx prototypes. A majority of the weapons on the sheet that never appeared in the final game did not appear in any prototypes either. Another interesting tidbit is that this icon sheet was placed in the “ui” folder in most prototypes, but was given its own folder, “icons”, in the final game.

Old Sidorovich texture
An old texture for Sidorovich can be found in the game's files. Compared to the final texture, this one has some blonde hair, wears a wife-beater, darker shoes, and different colored skin.

A picture showing this design was on the official Stalker website back in 2003.

Skat-9 Suit with eyes
Hidden in the game's files are variants of the Skat-9 armor, but with the user's eyes visible. Normally, they're covered by glass. These models were used when the player wore the Skat-9 armor in some prototypes.

God mode icon


this icon was used in some prototypes to show that you had activated the God mode cheat. However, this cheat was disabled in the final game, so this can never appear.

Old Ecologist texture


Old textures for NPCs in the Ecologist faction can be found in the “act” texture folder. These are leftovers from when the Ecologists used a reskinned Stalker suit as their standard uniform, not the hazmat suits they use in the final game. This model can be found in several prototype versions of the game.

Early Exoskeleton model


Hidden in the “andy” folder in “textures” is an early design for the Exoskeleton. This design is the standard default Stalker suit with some hydraulic devices on it.

Old Freedom and Mercenary exoskeleton models


Buried in the textures for multiplayer's player model select are Mercenary and Freedom colors for the old exoskeleton model.

Monolith Commander model


An unused Monolith NPC model can be found in the game's files. Unlike the others, this one has a face. His name has “kommandir” in it, suggesting that he was supposed to be a key character in the Monolith faction.

Jeffry


In the root textures folder is a small texture called “Jeffy”. This is a very old leftover from when Stalker was in a futuristic setting, not Chernobyl Fun Time. Early prototypes, such as 1098, use a full-sized version of this texture for an NPC.

Old Energy Drink


An old model for the energy drink item can be found in the game's files. It is blue, has no symbol on it with “energy drink” written on the lower part, and the word “Non Stop” in the center of the no symbol. The code for the Energy Drink still lists it as a valid model, but it never appears in-game.

The inventory icon for this item can be found on the final icon sheet.

Holdable items
Several unused models found in the weapons folder inside the “meshes” section suggest that the player was meant to hold items, such as vodka, medkits and bandages, at one point. Most of them use a temporary model that have the player's arms and a cigarette, but some, like vodka, actually have the item with the arms.

Unused M1911 pistol texture
An unused texture for the M1911 pistol can be found in the game's files. It has a blue tint, while the one used in-game doesn't. This texture has some parts of the gun removed, while others were rearranged. A texture of a cartridge was added to the sheet.

Smaller Double Barrel Shotgun texture
A smaller version of the Double Barrel Shotgun's texture is in the weapon texture folder. This texture was used in some prototypes, but there doesn't seem to be any good reason for this to be in the final game.

Old F2000 model
An unused model for the F2000 assault rifle can be found in the game's files. This model appeared as early as Build 1098 (when Stalker was still called Oblivion Lost and had nothing to do with Chernobyl) and managed to survive through almost all of the prototypes before being replaced with the final model. Ironically, the unused model is based on a prototype design for the real F2000.

Removed status bars
Unused status bars showing endurance, radioactivity, and blood can be found in the game's files. These bars were scrapped for the final game, but similar bars can be seen in some prototypes, such as Build 1935.

Old inventory system
Several remnants from an old inventory system that appeared around Build 1844 are still in the game in the form of graphics. There was supposed to be a separate box for grenades (which isn't in the final game) and a larger box for the knife slot.

The most interesting part about this old inventory system was that the player would have to equip ammo for their guns to a belt bar before they could actually fire the gun. You could not put all of your ammo in the bar and some ammo, like rockets, would take more space than the bog-standard firearm cartridge. It was most likely removed because it was clunky as hell.

Semi-early title screen
Part of an older title screen can be found in the UI folder that is inside the Texture folder. This title screen was seen in some prototypes, such as the 22xx series of builds.

Multiplayer menu mockup
A mockup for the buy menu in multiplayer can be found in the “ui” folder. This mockup is the same as the final layout, but has a filer description for the G36 that comes from Adobe InDesign, some Russian text on an side-bar underneath the weapon description box and a different font for numerals.

Early Multiplayer Explosives Buy Menu Icon


This icon seems to be an early version of the icon for multiplayer's explosives buy menu. This icon was used in the 22xx series of prototypes for the explosives buy menu in multiplayer.

Old UI textures


A sheet of old textures for the game's UI are in the “ui” folder. These appear to be a mixture of rough drafts for the final version's GUI style and a giant temporary texture showing off a mockup of the controls menu.

Debug font


A giant black and white grid. Based on its name, it was probably for some debug options, but it looks like the font was wiped before the game was released.

Editor leftovers
Some leftover textures for the editor can be found in the texture folder. These are an icon for actors, arrows showing AI pathing, and a dummy bump map.

Note that there is an editor out there, but it must be downloaded separately.

Targets
A series of shooting target board models are hidden in the game files. The upper part of the board has the actual target, while the lower part has the distance (most likely in meters, since this was made in Europe) they were meant to be from the player. These were most likely for testing weapon behavior.

There is also a target with no textures called “target_andy”. This was probably part of a test room.