Reactorside Picnic (Let's Play: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat)

[GolemsVoice]

Soo, I've finally begun with my promised LP. The whole thing starts a few hours into the game, but never fear, nothing crucial has happened so far. For some reasons, the English patch can't be applied, and I don't know what to make of the explanation below, I'm not sure what he means when talking about extracting the gamedata folder from the rar. So for the moment you'll have to enjoy a crazy mix of Russian, German and English!

So, let's begin!

Note: I'll write as Major Dagtarev. Anything that I write in italics will be my own thought on the game.

SO here I am, in the Zone. Finally. What a strange land. Of yourse I ahve been briefed extensively, but nothing prepares you for this, not quite. The land is so quiet, so unusual calm, only disturbed by gunshots sometimes, orn the barking of these hellish dogs. But it is a lingering quiet. I do not like it here, but this isn't my job.
I mde my way to an old ship that is the closest thing to a safe place I found so far. Filled with Stalkers, traders and bandits. Each of them has their own story, and each of them is mad, I fear, in their own special way. Some more than others. But if you go to Rome, do as the Romans do, as my mother used to say, and I've already made some friends. This is my situation so far:

http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-32-08_zato-1.jpg

I entered the Zone on that small plateu up north, and was advised to head straigth for that stranded ship, which I did. Luckily, I only encountered some upity pigs, which I quickly put to rest with my pistol. They freak me out, however. They don't look... right.

So I began doing jobs, something to make a living from, get some rep and make some friends. Money is very very tight in this game! It's hard to actually save anything between having to repair your things, buying supplies and new ammo.

A: A Stalker named Kardan, http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-30-53_zaton.jpgthe local weaponsmith, said that he would gladly offer his services, had he not lost his tools. What he needs are Simple Tools (whenever I make words proper nouns, it means they are quest items), Advanced Tools, and Fine Tools. I should search for them. Somewhere in the WHOLE GOD-DAMNED ZONE. Yeah. But of course I asked around, and after a while, I found a Stalker who told me that the old sawmill is probably the best place to look for tools, but that people don't go there for... reasons.
Well, I've got a ... pistol, so I don't care about... reasons, and headed straight for the old buildings. To my horror I discovered that the destruction of the Brain Scorcher did not do away with those Zombies, and hordes of these things had gathered around to walk around aimlessly. I put them out of their misery. They are really bad shots. Still, they give me the creeps. I've got the feeling I'm going to say that alot from now on. But my search was succesful, I found some Simple Tools. Sadly, I took the short route out of that hell-hole and ran away. Still, Kardan was happy to see me, and we celebrated. Well, HE celebrated, with MY vodka. http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-31-06_zaton.jpg
Here you see one of the weakest points of CoP so far. Some animations are really no longer pretty, and this is one of the finest examples.

A few bottles later, he told me that he had parted in scorn from his old mates, and I offered him to bring his apologies to them should I ever find them. He then fell asleep, muttering drunken things. Yeah. But I think I'll hit the sawmill once again, I've only explored the smallest building so far.

B: Beard http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-31-34_zaton.jpg, the guy in charge around here, said that a Stalker saw some very strange lights coming from that old digging ship to the east. I should check it out. And I did, only to find it ladden with gravitational anomalies and radiation. But still, I prevailed, and got the warped, glowing steering wheel. When I exited the ship, some guy named Tuna came up to me and told me some sob story about him needing the artifact for it's healing powers. I told him to go to hell, which he didn't like very much, and his tow thugs with AKs didn't like it, too. Once more I did what I had to do, and ran the hell away, through the swamp, the hail of bullets, and the shouted curses. But I made it. And I even received a fine reward, which sadly got spent on repairs and ammunition.

C: A guy named Sultan told me that they, the bandits, are planning to raid a neighboring ship full of rookies, and asked me to join in. I said yes, but quickly told their plans to Grouse, resident lawman, who informed the rookies, so that they were prepared. I still should go with the bandits, but turn my weapon on them, which I gladly did. Scum. That earned me some friends, a few rubels, and the trust of Grouse. Sultan didn't seem to mind. Luckily, he never got word of what happend. If it wasn't forbidden to draw weapons ion the ship, I'd take him out, too.

D: Speaking of Grouse: He told me of a missing hunter, and said that he had various coordinates where he suspected him to be. The first I checked, he wasn't. But the next... Grouse told me to meet him at the abandoned antenna station, which I did. He THEN told me that this freaking building contained freaking Bloodsuckers! All right. But still, in we went, and after countles deaths, Grouse didn't seem too eager to help me out managed to take out the two Bloodsuckers. We DID find their victims, but our hunter was not among them. God, I hate the sight of Bloodsucker victims. I really do. So, because we jumped down an elevator shaft, we had to find another way out. Which, funnily enough, lead through a LAIR OF SLEEPING BLOODSUCKERS. God, I never wanted so hard to just pull the trigger, and I never had to fight so hard to contain me. how those things twistred in their sleep, every movement making you think they'll wake up any minute. But they didn't and we managed to get out.
Grouse had the only sensible thing to say, which was to find some poison gas and release it in their lair. That'll show them. But, funnily enough, he didn't know where to acquire some, but Uhu did. http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-31-19_zaton.jpg Because he was in no way endangered by a horde of Bloodsuckers, he offered me the information for the bargain price of 2000 rubels. Yeah. But what could I do, so he told me that there was a military convoy stuck on the bridge south, which transported the gas. Thanks, sucker. That would be E.

Ive done some smaller quests, too, but this is more or less the current state of affairs. There are still plenty of quests open, which Ill tell you about when they get important.
Soo, time for a little compairing! Whats new, what has changed?


There are almost no Anomalies across the country, they now are gathered around special, handcrafted spots, like the abandoned ship where I found the prot/anomaly, or a scorched farm
Important people will now be displayed on the minimap, like people who cant repair, are traders, etc... http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-32-17_zaton.jpg
Zou can now repair and upgrade your weapons and armor!
Gasmask and suit are now to separate items. http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_12-32-55_zaton.jpg
Blowouts are now a regular event, and will kill zou if zou dont find shelter undeground or inside fully enclosed buildings. Ill try to get a picture.
There are some new dangers, and the ability to protect yourself against them, like psy/emmison and poisonous gas.
Drugs that can boost your protection or your carrying capacity


So, thats it so far, now, you decide! Where to go! Should I get the gas and show those Bloodsuckers? Should I investigate the sawmill a little more? Or should I do anz of the other quests, which mostly involve killing or finding dudes? Or should I see that I do my real objective, which is to look for the downed helicopters (see 1 on the map)? YOU DECIDE!

[warty goblin]

Soo, I've finally begun with my promised LP. The whole thing starts a few hours into the game, but never fear, nothing crucial has happened so far. For some reasons, the English patch can't be applied, and I don't know what to make of the explanation below, I'm not sure what he means when talking about extracting the gamedata folder from the rar. So for the moment you'll have to enjoy a crazy mix of Russian, German and English!


I suspect he means you need to use winRAR to extract the gamedata folder from the RAR archive that you downloaded.

Sounds cool, looks fabulous. I'd suggest going after the bloodsuckers, if for no other reason than I want to see how they look in the new game.

[Flickerdart]

I say gas the suckers (hah, get it? :smallbiggrin:).

[SurlySeraph]

Yeah, gas the bloodsuckers.

[chiasaur11]

Echoed, but I would like a few shots of combat.

Almost feels like you never left the safety of headquarters as is.

[GolemsVoice]

Here comes the next part! See as our brave soldier explores a silent forest station, sneaks into a mercenary camp and makes a daring escape, and finds the crate with the poison gas and an ugly surprise! See also: Mystery with Grouse, or The Blood is the Life!

What you won't see, and I'm sorry for that, is actual combat. SO far, I only shot a few bandits once, and not much else, aside from boars and the occasional snork. It's disapointing for me, too, but everything that you can shoot is either way too powerful, numerous, or boring (like the Zombies) Nonetheless, I'll try to get something in my sights from now on.

I decided to find the gas, and get those Bloodsuckers out of the way. Sleeping and knowing that these creatures live. Uhu said, the chest should be on the brigde to the south, so let's head there.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_17-54-03_zaton.jpg
When I got closer, it however, I saw that he forgot to mention the anomalies "guarding" the brigde. Yeah. But I had to get there, what can I do?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_17-54-22_zaton.jpg
Gladly, I had learned some tricks from the other Stalkers, like tossing a small screw to see where anomalies are that can't be detected by my detector (the device in the left hand, normaly it would show the location of anomalies as three green bars on the circle) Still, navigating the bridge was tough, and a few times I feared for my life when I felt the sucking of the Vortices. Luckily, nothing but a few bruises.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_17-55-48_zaton.jpg I managed to get to the truck, and even found some supplies in an abandoned jeep, but much to my dismay, the chest was locked. By two keys. The one time the military decides to be thorough, it has to be my objective. Looks like I'll have to look for the keys, or for Grouse. He is said to be a master with locks.

Well, now that I'm here, let's go check out that mercenary camp in the old sewage plant that Uhu mentioned. All he wants is information.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_18-10-18_zato-1.jpg
Sounds easy. But sneaking was never my strength (this is true for me, too). Sadly, it has to be now, I am one, they are, about 10? Bad match.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_18-14-03_zaton.jpg The first guards were easily avoided, and below their building I should be safe and unseen. Let's see where this gets me.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_18-15-21_zaton.jpg A-ha! Luck is on my side, for now.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_18-17-16_zaton.jpg I'm in the first floor, and two floors above me is the laptop. I hope it goes as smooth as it has so far.
But, no, it doesn't. (I'll spare you the countless failed attempts at sneaking up, the countless reloads. I found that I couldn't even stealth-kill one of them without the whole base noticing, and I finally lost my patience, ran up there (they would tolerate me for a few seconds), grabbed the info and run the hell away. Do you see a pattern here?)
Somehow, I managed to escape without ONE of the even glancing me. I guess I must be lucky. Or not, because the moment I was out of reach of the mercs, a blowout started. And I was in the middle of nowhere. Only an old ship as my hideout. It'll have to do.
(Normally, I would ahve hidden somewhere safe, but for you, I braved the storm and shot those fancy pictures from my shelter.)
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_19-01-30_zaton.jpg It begins with weird weather, wind blowing, picking up the leaves. A strange light. http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_19-02-21_zaton.jpg Then everything gets brighter, the sky begins to thunder and flash.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_19-02-44_zaton.jpg I finally turns red, and lighting and terrible winds tear the world asunder. Whil I hid, I actually heard two victims who were too late. I prayed for their poor souls. THe Zone has claimed another two lives.
Back to Uhu. Gues what he paid me: 2000 rubels! 2000! If I ever find him out of the ship, I'm going to beat that smug grin out of him, I swear. Bastard.
With nothing better to do, and Grouse still out and about, I decided to explore the sawmill again, and see if I can find more tools.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_19-10-31_zaton.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_19-14-33_zaton.jpg
Sadly, safe for a few stray Zombies, it was empty. (Here's something I dislike about Stalker. It sometimes makes the game world look bigger than it is by planting giant buildings with texture doors that can't be opened. So a station with four buildings might only have one or two that can actually be explored.)
I decided to investigate the Bloodsucker lair again, and see if I can find Grouse there to talk to him about the missing hunter and the gas. Funnily enough, just when I get there, I get a message from him, saying to meet me back at the headquarter. Finally. (the game seems to be one of the few games where later actually means later, not "after you have finished a trigger mission" or "the next time you talk to me". I find this highly irritating, but cool and consistent at the same time.) Back in the ship, Beard informs me that Grouse went to the old dock cranes, and I should meet him there. All right.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_22-34-40_zaton.jpg Just that he isn't there! (But the minimap says he must be, so our intrepid Major decides to investigate!) Well, none of the guys on the dock says anything, so I'll look into the only real building around here, an old shack (whose door was locked earlier, and whose porch sports a suprprising spot of blood!). In there, I found madness. Grouse on a table, drained of all blood. Before him, a freak with his m,outh and clothes soaked in blood! Somehow, he says he has expected me, that one day he knew somebody would find out. Tells me he's addicted to heamoglobine, and went to the Zone, hoping that the rough environment would distract him. It didn't.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_22-35-56_zaton.jpg And having finished his confession, he pulls pout his gun and finishes himself. I... I really don't know what to say here. Grouse was, for the short time I knew him, compassionate, caring and concerned. He wanted to do things right, and were other Stalkers would have abandoned the lost hunter the moment he didn't return to camp, Grouse investigated. And this was what killed him.
At least Beard is grateful, and rewards me with the coordinates of two hidden stashes and 10000 rubels. That's something, though it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The Stalkers however, now respect me, and repsect can be worth more than money here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_22-39-38_zaton.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_22-40-01_zaton.jpg
It also awards me an achievement, called "Detective". The Stalkers will now leave medical supplies in my personal chest in the headquarters at certain intervals. Nice, and I really like that you can buld up a reputation, but don't have too. After all, I could have gone straight for my main objectives. By the way, that's a really nice picture of a Bloodsucker, as the strongst mutant I've defeated so far. It does them justice. Those eyes in the darkness...
One of the hidden objects is a sniper rifle! At last! I suffered severe burns, because some idiot decided that the attic of an old farm filled with burner anomalies and searing heat was a good place to hide things, but a sniper rifle definitely improves my chances of survival. Maybe now I'll be able to take on enemies without being pumped full of lead in a matter of seconds.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-17-09_22-44-39_zaton.jpg

I'm really at a loss for what to do now. I guess I'll take a look at the choppers, shall I?

[SurlySeraph]

I guess go for the helicopters, yeah. I'm curious as to whether it's possible to get the chest with the gas open, but I suppose that'll have to wait.

[GolemsVoice]

I'm sure it is, and I'm anxious to open it, as I guess it will gain me another achievement. and, safe those poor people, yeah. Saving people is what it's all about,. Not money. No.

[SurlySeraph]

Bumpification!

[GolemsVoice]

Sorry to keep you waiting, been a little busy lately. Prepare for the next part, coming today. In this part, we may or may not find a Stalker named Magpie, we may or may not get shot by helpful lunatics,and we may or may not find the keys to the gas for the Bloodsuckers! By the way, if you see anything you like or dislike in my LP, let me know. And should you ever see something on a screenshot, and you would like to explore it, tell me. I'll be your tourist guide. IN HELL.

EDIT: Here we go! Great things have transpired, and I'm going to let you know! Behold!

First, I decided to check the bridge again, or rather, under the brifge. Maybe we find something. And I am rewarded!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-39-54_zaton.jpg

That's it for now, seems like I've got a whole lot of work in front of me.

But that's not the end of all! Looking around, I find a crashed car, containing some orders and a key labeled B. The orders say that somebody named K.S.Wlasow, Lieutnant Colonel, kept key B. So that must be what's left of his car. Colonel P.P. Slawin, driving at the end of the convoy, has key A. Yes! http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-40-33_zaton.jpg
Once again I make my way across the bridge,
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-43-34_zaton.jpg
get the second key, and open Pandora's Box
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-50-13_zaton.jpg Those Bloodsuckers are going to pay.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-51-48_zaton.jpg Back through the beginning night, to the Bloodsucker lair, 10 kilo of gas in tow.
Mutants are more active at night, but I can't wait. First I help two Stalkers fend of two Zombies,
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-53-33_zaton.jpg, then encounter some more.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-54-22_zaton.jpg. (This picture hides one Zombie. Can you spot him? All entries go to [email protected]. Stalkers, Zombies, Mutants and military spies are exempt.)
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-55-07_zaton.jpg
One of the most disturbing things those Zombies do, besides being, well, brainless, is that they sometimes simply refuse to die, thrashing about on the floor, and even getting up after a while. I take him out, and it's probably merciful, too. God...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-57-32_zaton.jpg
More mutants!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-58-42_zaton.jpg
And here's the lair. Why did I come here at night again? Just keep your nerves, and do waht is necessary. You'll be out of here soon. It's just that with those antennas pointing into the nightsky, and the wind howling in the trees... it'll take a dead man to not jump at shadows. Not that there aren't any walking dead around...
Oh, speaking of being attacked
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-04-20_zaton.jpg
First, four Flesh come charging at me. Some serious beating of meat ensues.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-07-12_zaton.jpg
A boar for good measure.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-07-26_zaton.jpg
And some dogs. (Not displayed) I decide to take this as a good omen, because, honetly, I can't USE a bad one. Let's do this.
First we connect the tank to the ventilation.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-59-07_zaton.jpg
Than we open the valve.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-59-18_zaton.jpg
And than we let the poison do it's evil work. That should finish them.
But then I hear a roar. Footsteps, several. Oh god!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-08-03_zaton.jpg
I'm not alone...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_13-59-28_zaton.jpg
I prepare for them, getting out my shotgun. even if I'll die now, I'll die in the knowledge that the two who escaped will be the only two.
But (after copious amounts of reloading) I prevail. My heart calms. <It is done.
I really apologize here. It is very ahrd to take a picture of something that is visible only when slashing at you, and the darkness doesn't help. They also have the ability to grab you and suck for a while, something that made me shiver at my PC (complete with sucking sounds), but you don't see much of it on a screenshot, as our hero just stares into the sky and whimpers.
The lair of the monsters lies calm now, and all that is left for me is to return to Beard and tell of my success.
On my way home, I encounter some more dogs, but luckily they pass me by.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-14-39_zaton.jpg
I'm not sure if it is visible here, but the pseudodogs have eyes that flash whit, a sight that is most unsettling in the darkness, especially when accompanied by barks and the sound of paws coming towards you.
Back home I take a well deserved rest (You can see a part of the reward here, a detector of the newest kind, which I'll put to good use later)
And spend some of the money on improvements, repairs and ammuniton.
Ah, a bright new day! I have slept well, and am ready for new adventures. Today, I'm going to investigate one of the crashsites, and put my dtector to good use finding artifacts. I need some money.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-21-56_zaton.jpg
Some more Zombies in my way. Thse guys can't aim to save their life, and ahve the senses of a rock.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-27-20_zaton.jpg
I take them out quickly.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-27-29_zaton.jpg
And here's the home of some guy named Noah. Stalkers say, he has found a way to acces the platue Stingray 3 crashed on. Judging from his ship, he's also either a friend of modern art, or mad. Not that those two would be in any way exlcusive to each other.
Knocking on his door, and being greated by curses and a shotgun round, i decide he's the latter. And when he talks about how a tide of mutants and blowouts will ravage the land, and only he in his ship will survive, I decide that my suspicion was right.
At least he and his dog make a lovely pair. It seems that madness attracts certain kind of specimen. But look, they are a lovely family.

But before I go, let's go anomaly hunting!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-32-00_zaton.jpg
Just a few metres away from Noahs ark (as he calls it) I find the anomaly named scar, though I really can't imagine why they named it so. Carefully scouting around the chasm, my detector finds an artifact down there, and I decide to go in! It seems that it wasn't the heat that made the air above the scar like that, but some sort of psy emission. Having just reinforced my gasmask with a special emtal ring against psy emissions, i decide to take the risk. Quickly in there, grab the artifact, and get out! http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-32-20_zaton.jpg I feel woozy now, but nothing has happened (really, nothing did happen, although the psy-warning was yellow. Either I'mm well protected (which I don't believe, or psy-radiation takes effect only when above a certain treshold)
The artifact, called lightning, protects me from electricity, but depoits radiation in my body. Sell it. (I have the feeling that nearly all artifacts who cause radiation suck mightily. Radiation really kills, and collects fast.)

After the successful foray into this anomaly, let's head to the old gass tation. Beard told me of a stash there, and I want to see what I find in the claw anomaly just next to it.
Here are the goods,
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-39-45_zaton.jpg
but just as I emerge from unde the rocks, a blowout begins. And, much to my dismay, I find that the next safe hiding place is down in the chasm wher i rescued a metal chest from snorks. Yeah. But it beats being roasted alive.
So, down the rabbit hole I go...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-40-52_zaton.jpg
... and, after fighting my way out of it again, I stand next to the claw anomaly, from which i bring two stoneflowers and a dose of radiation. There is progress.
But enough with the fooling around, time to think of the real reason why I'm here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-53-35_zaton.jpg
Noah, by the way, reveals that to get on to the plateau, you have to jump into an anomaly. I wonder how he discovered this? Genius and madmen...
The chopper seems to have been overrun by snorks, the onboard computer says that it suffered a failure of both engins, and reveals three locations marked for evacuation. I'll visit them soon.
Sadly, three of my comrades never reached any of these points
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-55-06_zaton.jpg
On my way back to the Sadowsk (the headquarter-ship), I stumble upon a last anomaly, called the circle.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-49-20_zaton.jpg
Again, I run in, grab what I can, and try not to get too scorched.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-23-09_14-50-09_zaton.jpg

[GolemsVoice]

New part is up, and more will follow either today or tomorrow. Stay tuned!

[GolemsVoice]

And there's more! Many exciting things happen this time, from the introduction of a new area to fast-paced, thrilling mutant hunting! Terrible fights through abandoned tunnels, amazing anomalies, fascinating artifacts, and deadly weapons!


After I had managed to find the first helicopter, it was time to look for the sites marked as evacuation points. The first one was the Skadowsk, but no one had seen any military there. I hadn't thought so, too. Since the other two points lay closer to Pripyat, and I would ahve to get a guide to get there, I decided to wrap up what I had to do here.

Looking for the helicopter that crashed in the electrical facilities seemed like a good idea, as the other helicopter in this part of the Zone was surrounded by vapors of poisonous gas, and I wanted to at least get upgrades for my mask before I ruin my lungs for my country.
I pick up a few artifacts from an anomaly on my way
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-41-46_zaton.jpg
and then head straight for the second crash site.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-42-44_zaton.jpg
Seems innocent enough, but if my days in the Zone ahve taught me anything, it's to be wary of everything. And I was right. As soon as I notice the electrical disturbance floating through the air, and I hear the first objects crashing behind me, I know that this must be a poltergeist.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-44-29_zaton.jpg
It is, however, not as dangerous as I had thought, once you learn to dodge and take cover. Luckily, despite it's somewhat intangible nature, bullets till bring it down, and after a few bursts, all is quiet again. Time to investigate the aircraft. The bodies of my comrades told me to keep my expectations low, and indeed. It seems that the crew died in flight, since the helicopter itself, or rather the onboard computer, lists no damage prior to the crash. Strange, but maybe they fell victim to the poltergeist. I wonder if it is some kind of sentient anomaly, or a being. I guess the latter, since it can be "killed". God, this must be a scientist's nightmare and paradise at once. Aside from a detailed map of the surroundings, which might be valuable to Pilot, the local guide, I find little of interest, but it can't hurt to look around.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-47-45_zaton.jpg
By the way, I have a sort of awe and fear of those relics of technology, especially when they are big and bulky, and not sleak and streamlined or polished like most modern devices. I can't really explain this, but I sometimes have the feeling that those abandoned machines house a more primal power and spirit than our miniaturized technology of today. Hard to explain, really, but it adds something unique to the Stalker games. The land seems more... raw. But I disgress.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-48-34_zaton.jpg
Inside a small building, I find a stash containing a few rounds and a pistol called "Black Kite", which, a comrade told me once, is THE pistol. Better keep it, I think it is mainly used for hunting big game. Plenty of those around here, but my trusty Pmm, that I got for excellent work still suits me better.
Sadly, my knowledge of weapons is barely enough to recognize popular models when I see them, and a few basic things about shooting things. The text says that this pistol is the thing to get, but it's damage output and accuracy speak for itself, I think.
Below the house, a heavy door awaits me, and a keypad. Sadly, I don't know the key, so this mystery has to wait.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-48-51_zaton.jpg
I really really loved the parts of the original Stalker that took place in underground labs and complexes. It's the same feeling of abandoned, archaic technology that somehow becomes more than just a tool.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_13-50-15_zaton.jpg
By the way, that's behind the crash site. I managed to get around the wall, but the game doesn't let me go any further. The good Major will have to stay out, I fear. Zone: I - daring explorer: 0
Back to the Skadowsk. Artifact selling, armor and weapon repairs, so on. Pilot is indeed very interested in my map, and offers me to lead me the the Janow station for just 1000 rubel, instead of the usual 3000. That's a deal!
So I arrive in Janow. The station seems to be divided in the Freedom and the Duty fraction, with the free stalkers literaly in between. But I quickly learn that in here, a strange agreement was made to not shoot each other. What refuge of civilisation amidst the horrors of the Zone.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-01-03_jupi-1.jpg
This part of the Zone is clearly the more dangerous one, and so, the Stalkers that sir around here and tell of their heroics are a different breed, much more experienced than the rookies that hang around the Skadowsk.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-02-05_jupi-1.jpg
A guy named Wano has serious problems. He indebted himself so much, that he had to sell his weapon and armor to raise money. However, now that he HAS the money, he can't go out to deliver it, since walking around without wepon and armor in the Zone is the second dumbest idea around here.
I agree to deliver it for him to the Bandits.
Speaking of Bandits...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-04-27_jupi-1.jpg
Grizzly tells me of how the Bandits have begun to extort money from scavenging Stalkers, and even kidnapped one who failed to pay. Now, Grizzly and his mate discuss what to do. Grizzly wants to free the hostage with violence, while Torba, his friend, wants to give tham an artifact as payment for the hostage. I get to decide.
That means, YOU get to decide! I have three options:
1) Agree to hand over the artifact, saying that it's too dangerous with a hostage
2) Say that this demands violence, and agree to storm the camp
or 3) tell them that their discussing will get them nowehere. and that I'm going to do this my way. Whatever my way would be, we'll see about that.
Choose one! Oh, the participation!
(and, yes, I'm fully aware that you won't get much out of the conversation in the screenshot, I included it just for completeness' sake
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-04-46_jupi-1.jpg
Here's Nitro, resident technician. Well, guess what. He doesn't have any tools! Oh brilliant. Now, I'm well aware that you can't haul your entire workshop in the Zone, but how can you be a tinker without tools? Guess I'll have to get them. Again. But Nitro tells me that he has a second hobby, tinkering with radios and receivers (good luck without tools, idiot), but lacks any parts, since they are rare and nobody bothers with them, since there's no money in it (is there ANYHTING this guy can do on his own? Calm down, Degtyarev...). Apparently, however, parts can be found in the old concrete factory, that used to produce electronic devices before the accident.
I promise him to look around, and he seems genuinely grateful. I'm a sucker for a guy and his devotion, I really am.
But first, a strange old man asks me if I can lead him somwhere. He says that he don't want to bother his Freedom friends, and his repeated emphasis on the short duration of the trip and how easy it will be make me suspicious. But I decide to go with him. Friends and trust can really help you here.
So, before long, I find myself marching behind him through the night.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-10-25_jupi-1.jpg
The Zombie-filled night.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-11-16_jupi-1.jpg
Yeah. But Uncle Jar, as he calls himself, seems to really not care, and the Zombies seem to do likewise, so what the hell. I follow him up into the attic of an old building, where he suddenly reveals that he is here to set an ambush for a group of mercenaries that in turn have ambushed him before. And I'm supposed to help him. Since really noone likes Mercs, I guess it's safe, and after all, they won't know what hit them, and they won't tell, will they?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-13-30_jupiter.jpg
This battle, if it can be called such, was one of the most atmospheric fights I ever had. Sadly, it was also one of the most inefficient fights I ever had. The above image sums up most of what I saw through my scopes, and I vowed to get night vision as soon as I can. Sometimes, wepon fire lit the night, and sometimes it was split by a flash of lighnting, and I managed ton get a few shots into the general direction of my enemies.
Luckily, Uncle Jar had better luck with his rifle, and managed to get his revenge and reward me. Let's get out of here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-17-19_jupiter.jpg
Next is Trapper, ex-hunter and now distributor of jobs to new hunters. He tells me that Stalkers drove away some Bloodsuckers that retreated into the nearby swamp, and I'm to make sure they never get out of it. When I tell him I've already taken out one of their nests, he's impressed. Ok. Time to get things done!
Luckily, the cement factory and the swamp lie next to each other, so I decide to hit the factory first. I make my approach under the cover of night, but find that aside from a few Zombies, the facotry in unguarded.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-19-39_jupiter.jpg
Before I can begin any scavenging, however, i'm surprised by a Blowout. The factory proves to have ample shelter, So I wait and watch. Sadly, Zombies are immune to whatever goes on when the sky opens the gates to hell.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-23-07_jupiter.jpg
The stairs are no good anymore
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-26-24_jupiter.jpg
so I have to find another way in.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-26-46_jupiter.jpg
Up a nearby silo, and across some stairs on top of the main building.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-27-15_jupiter.jpg
From there, I proceed to search the building downwards
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-28-06_jupiter.jpg
Almost getting bruned by those acidic plants or whatever those are
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-28-58_jupiter.jpg
almost getting burned by an anomaly I really should have seen
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-29-22_jupiter.jpg
but prevailing in the end.
While looking around in the underground, Is tumble upon a few small mutants called hamsters for theri size, and a strange symbol.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-33-12_jupiter.jpg
This symbol seems to mark no special spot, but it intrigues me nonetheless. I'll have to keep that in mind.
Next is Bloodsucker hunting. I climb atop the huge silo and get out my scoped rifle. For this occasion, I skip the trumpet-blowing and go straight for the shooting.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-36-24_jupiter.jpg
Sadly, my training with these kind of rifles was less than optimal, and my ten shots are gone really fast. I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Walter, fetch me the shotgun, I feel like some excitement.
And excitement I did have.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-38-50_jupiter.jpg
I approach the are where they have been seen, my shotgun ready.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-39-49_jupiter.jpg
I wrestle with the beasts, and one nearly magaes to suck me dry, but in the end
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_14-47-09_jupiter.jpg
human tenacity triumphs over bestial aggression.
Both Trapper and Nitro are really happy. Trapper has the next mission ready. A group of Stalkers encountered some really strange and frightening mutants (it's both shocking and reassuring how fast the strange can become the ordinary. Most creatures here would be deemed horrors by the outside world, yet the Stalkers have adapted, and this is their normal now)
and the whole camp is worried. 5000 rubels are offerd to the man who manages to kill them. That's me!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_15-05-14_jupiter.jpg
I approach the old trainyard, wepon ready.
Apparently, those mutants are some sort of dwarves.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_15-08-07_jupiter.jpg
Dwarves capable of lifting tanks and crates and throwing them at you, as well as sucking out your stamina and forcing your weapon out of your hand. I can understand how the people are frightened.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_15-09-36_jupiter.jpg
These beats are as resilient as they are ugly, and can withstand severe punishment. I empty half a dozen magazines on them, and finally they die.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_15-10-25_jupiter.jpg
Man, they ARE ugly. Then again, the things of beauty in the Zone can be counted on one hand. A non-mutated, five-fingered hand, that is.
Again, Trapper is very pleased. With nothing to do around here, I head for the evacuation site in the abandoned air-defense base.
Guess who's there to great me? If you guessed Zombies, that's correct!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-34-35_jupi-2.jpg
These things are little more than target practice (great for practicing your headshot skills, or testing how bullets fly!) and are easily taken out.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-38-14_jupi-1.jpg
But the bulding is empty, so I'll ahve to take a look at the remaining base.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-40-08_jupi-1.jpg
Speaking of that, there's a whole lot ofn goodies behind these bars. If only I could get to them. Man, a RPG. Hmm...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-47-28_jupiter.jpg
The only unexplored part is the underground bunkers, so that's where I'll go.
Some more hamsters
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-48-38_jupiter.jpg
asking for grenades
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-50-11_jupiter.jpg
some crouching
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-51-05_jupiter.jpg
and another one of these short freaks. This time, I have the first draw, and he gets a grenade-and-bullets-shaped surprise. Sadly, he didn't take it well.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-51-41_jupiter.jpg
Through a key coded door (upstairs, I found the notes of the soldier who came here, saying he waited two days and then left, I got told by other Stalkers that the scientist's pathfinder picked him up. The note also told me the key to the door)
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-48-48_jupiter.jpg
and open Sesame!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-52-40_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-24-09_23-53-50_jupiter.jpg
Sorry you guys, gotta go!
After dumping or selling my newfound goods, I head out for the mobile lab. Nothing really exciting here. The soldier acknowledges the note, but refuses to say any more, because it's secret (there was never the option to tell him about whpo you really are, a thing that annoyed me. After all, this is the first survivor I encounter. But no)
Gari, the tracker, tells me that he wants to leave, but has to remain with the scientists until he has found two artifacts that he can't get. I promise him to let him know should I ever stumble upon them.
A scientist tells me of a Stalker legend, of a place called Oasis. According to the talk, this place is able to heal all wounds and remove fatigue, but nobody has ever seen it, only (claimed) to dream of it. Should I ever stumble upon the place (like hell) I should let him know.

While making my way back to janow, Trappers contacts me. He says that Stalkers have found the tracks of a chimera. Apparently, it has it's hunting grounds near a series of old vents. It is the chimera that killed his old friend Fox (I've read of him when I was briefed on the whole Strelok-business, a shame he's dead), and so he offers 10000rubels to the one that slays this beast. Around nightfall, I should wait near the vents till it comes out to feed.
Allright...
On my way, I encounter the strange symbol again, this time in a ptach of electrical anomalies on an abandoned parking lot. Hmm.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-06-18_jupiter.jpg
I arrive, and make camp where I can oversee the are nicely. Now, all I have to do is wait.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-08-48_jupi-1.jpg
It appears all right, but whenever I shoot it from above (I think it can not access this position) it disappears into the night. Damn. So, once again I'll have to do this face to face. Damn.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-26-58_jupi-1.jpg
The fight is really taxing. The chimera is fast, strong, and deadly. It can jump 10 metres easily, and is able to land a terrible blow out of the air.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-29-07_jupi-1.jpg
It also has a hide tough enough to absorb the contents of several magazines.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-30-58_jupi-1.jpg
Alas, even that was not enough, and in the end. The beast lies to my feet, killed by my hands. I feel proud.
On my way home, I see a strange light coming from within an abandoned train.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-20-23_jupi-1.jpg
This must be the train one of the Stalkers talked about. A "hunch" told him that I could find tools in ther. And he is right.
Returning to the Janow station, Trapper and Nitro are again very grateful. Trapper's so relieved that he even gives me his trusted shotgun along with the 10000 rubel. A true hunter's weapon. With this deed, I have earned the respect of the Stalkers.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-25-09_00-33-16_jupi-1.jpg
I am now not only Detective, but Monster Hunter as well, meaning that Stalkers will regularly deposit ammunition in my stash at the Janow station.
Finally, I return to the Skadowsk. I have now more than 55000 rubels, and it's time to get that little extra. Nibmle says he can get me a fine stalker suit for "just" 40000 rubel, and I pay him. Now I only have to wait for the delivery. It's about time I get a new suit, and all the Stalkers say that Nimble alway manages to get the best.

So, now it's time for you. Decide whether to kill or negotiate, or do "my thing". Should I roam about the Zone some more, visiting anomalies and opening stashes (look, mommy, I'm a real Stalker now!) or focus on the main plot?
Also, does anyone know a free an reliable program for making ingame videos?

[Flickerdart]

I say shoot them all and take their stuff. I bet if you went with the artifact, they'd make you find one first and then the bandits would shoot you anyway.

[GolemsVoice]

Violence, eh? It'll be fun to actually test my skill against human opponents.

[Izual6764]

Kill 'em all. It's not like they won't attack you if you pay them. They are bandits after all.

[GolemsVoice]

Good. I'll give surlyseraph time until tomorrow morning. Now I've got three people following my thread, yeah!

[SurlySeraph]

The last two updates have been amazing. 10 rubles says the Duty-Freedom truce breaks.
Also, Nitro looks an awful lot like Vladimir Putin, doesn't he?
Also, the sky is incredibly beautiful. Even compared to how well-done it was in the first two games.

I vote for violence, because it's always the best solution. Despite my best efforts to seek peace, my games always deteroriated into "Repetitive bandit genocide" at some point, where I'd clear them all out and they'd respawn several times because I just got so annoyed of seeing them all the time.

[Cristo Meyers]

Also, Nitro looks an awful lot like Vladimir Putin, doesn't he?

I was just thinking in the same thing...In Soviet Russia, Premier stalks YOU

I vote for killing them with fire. Cut out the middleman and save yourself an artifact hunt.

[GolemsVoice]

So violence it is. You guys sure know what you want. I won't get tpo play much today, but I'll see what I can do the next days. Sadly, my vacation time is running out, updates my get rarer.

[GolemsVoice]

Newest part, in which a lot of violence happens, at all times of the day and the night, but especially in the night. ALso, new suits get examined and put to the test, and shocking secrets and tantalizing hints get exposed!

Time to examine my new suit! I felt kind of weird buying something solely on the promise of another man, but I guess I can trust Nimble with this.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_14-53-55_zaton.jpg
And my trust turned out to be 100% justified. An old Clear Sky suit, this thing will protect me well, and comes with a helmet, that, amusingly, is laid out for a squad commander that is backed by a military operation and can receive data and radio updates directly to his helmet. So, the full opposite of what I am.
After I finished unpacking my early (and 40000 rubel) Chrismtas gift, I ask Kardan to build in additional protection and the usual gadgets. To my astonishment, I learn that both the helmet and the armor can be outfitted with systems that help my physical fitness, thus making me able to run longer and recover faster. The technology of the future, indeed. Bought.
So, back to Jupiter (the first part is called Zaton, the second is called Jupiter), and let's have a look at the bandits that Wano owes money.
I was hoping that it was the same bandit camp as the one in which the hostage is held, and that I could gain some information about the layout and the strength of numbers, but apparently there is more than one bandit camp around her.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-02-24_jupiter.jpg
Not that this isn't well populated.
I make my way to the bandit's leader, Jack, and find that he is an arrogant jerk.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-03-16_jupiter.jpg
Instead of taking Wanos 5000 and being happy, he says something of interest rates and that it is now 7000. I would have been willing to pay the 5000, Wano has only himself to blame for making business with such shady characters, but this is enpugh. Even when I threaten him, he only laughs. "Who do I want to shoot with my toy gun?" he asks. Simple answer. Him.
So I whip out my gun, and in a quick burst of automaitc fire, I kill his bodyguard first, and then him. Headshot time. Reminds me of my time in the force.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-13-55_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-14-02_jupiter.jpg
After that, it's only a matter of enough bullets and grenades.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-15-16_jupiter.jpg
For people who make ntheir living robbing Stalkers at gunpoint and extorting protection money, thay are sure lousy in a fight. Their last mistake.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-36-02_jupiter.jpg
Wano is very happy and tells me to keep the 5000. Fine with me.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-05-05_jupiter.jpg
When I just wanted to exit Janow station, I overhear this fat creep Flint bragging about how he made a detailed map of the safest and fastest rout between Zaton and Jupiter, and how he eradicated a whole nest of Bloodsuckers back in Zaton with only his shotgun. I confront him, but he just calls me envious and tells me to get out. I'll have to think of something, since I can't hurt him as long as he stays here. You just wait.
I ask around, and one of the Stalkers tells me that in his opinion, the best place to look for tools would be the Jupiter complex. He also says that the complex is "scary" What isn't? Let's go!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-42-11_jupiter.jpg
But first, some artifact hunting in an anomaly next to Jupiter, filled with those fire traps. Luckily, they are easy to avoid.
Than there's the conrete bath anomaly, just a few hundred metres further. It seems that some guest are already getting ready for a bath, but I interrupt them.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-44-22_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-45-56_jupiter.jpg
Something gives me the feeling that I shouldn't fall into the green liquid. Maybe it's the constant hissing of acid, or the beeping of my scanner. So it's time to jump. A good thing that my arnmor is very flexible.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-49-37_jupiter.jpg
A few hops later, and I'm the proud owner of a Soul artifact, which will fetch some price back at the station.
But a man, they say, has to fight for what's his.
First a horde of Flesh guided by a boar.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-53-27_jupiter.jpg
Then some bandit target practice for my sniper rifle.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-54-55_jupiter.jpg
Then a swarm of hamsters coming out of Jupiter. Reminds me of how they said that moments before the first blast at Chernobyl NPP, all the rats and other vermin left the place, frantically trying to get away. Creepy. But not a real threat.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-55-45_jupiter.jpg
And finally, because everybody loves me, some mutant dogs and a FREAKING Bloodsucker. Both taste shotgun. Man, THAT was strange.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_15-56-36_jupiter.jpg
But let's head to my real objective here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-11-11_jupiter.jpg
Through the dawning night, I approach Jupiter complex, looming in the gathering darkness like only derelict buildings can.
Some more dogs try to show me that radioactive evolution is the thing to come, but my armour proves to be almost unpenetrable. For teeth, that is.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-15-41_jupiter.jpg
Maybe it's better to start with the smaller building first.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-17-06_jupiter.jpg
Night has now fallen, and I am left with the pitch black corridors. Look around!
I don't find any tools, but instead I find a list of orders saying that the scientific personel is to be moved into underground bunkers with all their equipment. It doesn't mention where, sadly.
In another room, I find another document that also tells of secret labs and secret projects. This must have been a very important research facility once.
As it turns out, a bunch of mercenaries have been following me, and something tells me they are not to pleased about me discovering the documents. The leader telling me I should have never come here might be a reason. Also, I hear the heavey footsteps of an exoskeleton. This is going to be tough.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-21-44_jupiter.jpg
I get the first one when he sticks his head through the door. Fool.
The second one falls victim to my headshots. Take THAT, powered armor.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-22-39_jupiter.jpg
5 to go.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-27-42_jupiter.jpg
Here goes number three.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-29-55_jupiter.jpg
And four. The rest must be downstairs.
Those fools never see me in the darkness, and a grenade amidst them proves their undoing.
Their leader, Black, has a PDA containing interesting data. He tells his men to "guard" the mobile lab here in Jupiter and make sure the scientists never discover how to handle X-objects. Thinmgs just keep getting more mysterious, but I bet that whatever those X-objects are, they have something to do with the research from Jupiter complex.
But now it is almost time to meet with my friends and assault the bandit camp. Somehow (and I really don't want to know how) Grizzly got a team of ex-police Stalkers (if they knew) and I am to meet them at 0100 in the night near the old container yard.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-38-16_jupiter.jpg
Nightvision has already paid more than full. The camp is swarming with bandits, and all in all, we are jsut five men. I hope they are as good as they have to be for this.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-42-03_jupiter.jpg
I wait for them near the car (but not too close, apparently the Ukrainians used the same cars used in Fallout 3, as most of them radiate furiously)
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-43-05_jupiter.jpg
Here's a picture I took because somebody mentioned the beauty of the sky. Even under nightvision, the starlit skies have a strange beauty.

The troops arrive, and after taking out the guard, we assault the camp through rain, lightning and darkness.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-57-00_jupiter.jpg
Sadly, the enemies seem to be able to ignore bushes more or less, while I can see next to nothing.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_16-51-27_jupiter.jpg
I use the lightning to take aim, and the next lightning to see if anyone still stands.
And before long, the corpses of the bandits litter the floor. This reminds me of my days in the force. Especially of the midnight crackdowns we used to train and execute. Never thought I could use the experience in a place like this.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-07-05_jupiter.jpg
A few more bodies, and I stand beofre the captor himself. Guess it's jsut not my night. He starts the old "one step closer"-speech, but a couple of rounds quickly silence him. Loser. It pays to be quick on the draw.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-21-01_jupiter.jpg
Together with Mitaj, the hostage, I make my way out of here. I never saw any of the other members of my team again, so i fear they bit the bullet. I feel somewhat sorry for them, as they were good men. But this is the Zone, after all. I hope somebody finds the bodies and gives them a proper burial, like those eerie crosses adorned with gasm masks that you sometimes find in the wilderness.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-35-44_jupiter.jpg

After collecting my reward (a few stash coordinates and 5000 rubel), it's time to let the eggheads know of the danger they're in. But amusingly, they tell me that the guards have vanished overnight, and I offer my help in finding trusty new ones. I also hand them the files I found in Jupiter, and even though he tells me that they contain little interestingm, he hands me a few scientific med-kits and 7000 rubel. Guess they have too much money on their hands, yes?
I just want to elave, but Hermann holds me back. There's a job he likes me to do. They have encountered a pusing psy-field, and think that something may be causing it, and ask me to find a sample. If there is any, and if I can actually SEE it, that is. Another doctor tells me that I am very resilient and highly unlikely to become unconscious because of such a field. That's helping.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-36-15_jupiter.jpg
I am supposed to go and recover the sample, while Topol and his men stand guard outside the tunnel. What could go wrong?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-37-27_jupiter.jpg
So far, nothing. Only a few Zombies greet us with strange mumbling, but are quickly put down. I still don't fully understand the relation between Zombies and psy-emissions, but there certainly is one. I hope I won't find out the hard way.
Topol waits outside, and I take some psy blockers, better safe than sorry. Let's get in there.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-37-27_jupiter.jpg
Past a locked door into a room filled with strange phenomena and electrical anomalies.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-40-31_jupiter.jpg
The detector shows me a nearby artifacts, maybe this is what i'm looking for.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-41-22_jupiter.jpg
It is indeed. Deftly I climb and sneak past the anomalies and find a warped isolator. Taken. I want out of here, my head is hurting.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-41-44_jupiter.jpg
But when I open the door I went past, I find Topol on his knees, clutching his head. Controller! That beast has rendered my comrades helpless. Shotgun time, freak, I'll not lose more men.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-45-05_jupiter.jpg
By quickly sprinting to where I hear him shambling, I manage to surprise the beast. He hits me with a fe attacks, but I hit him with shotgun shells, and I prove to be the hardest of us two.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_11-27-09_17-45-05_jupiter.jpg
If you wait long enough, your comrades will rise as Zombies and start to attack you. So THIS is how Zombbie is formed
Back in the lab, Hermann thanks me, and quickly offers me another job. He thinks he can predict upcoming emissions by measuring the quaility and quantity of artifacts that appear after one. To get the data necesasry, he asks me to take three sensors and place them inside three anomalies. Combining treasure hunting with scientific research? I'm in!


Turns out your violence option was very fun! Fighting by night is almost two times as exciting as fighting by day, especially when it rains and a thunderstorm is going on, too. It is also two times as frustrating, though. :smallwink:

[SurlySeraph]

Wow. Zombies actually rise from the dead now? I think I'm going to be paying extra attention to corpses when I get this.

[Flickerdart]

Ooh, throwing expensive equipment at anomalies!

See if you can work some back-stabbing in there somewhere, run off with these X-objects or whatever and take over the world.

[GolemsVoice]

Wow. Zombies actually rise from the dead now? I think I'm going to be paying extra attention to corpses when I get this.
They don't rise from the dead, as they are essentially not dead, just mindless. I meant that exposure to the Controller's mindscrew turns them into Zombies, and just wanted to use rise, because it was fitting. That's what Zombies do!

And I'll sure as hell want to get my hands on some X-objects, and I'm also sure that the scientists will want me to go looking for them. And I'm also sure I will find them (if they actually exis in ths game) in some mutant-infested hell hole, or a mutant free, but filled with anomalies/psy-mindbending. Or both. It never rains, it pours. And the downpour is radioactive.

[GolemsVoice]

UPDATE, STALKER: Just yesterday, my hard drive containing my Windows AND my Stalker savegames decided to commit honorable suicide. I'll see what I can do, and REALLY hope that I can recover the savegames (the drive isn't totally gone, just enough that I can no longer boot from it). That means no updates as long as I have not restored the drive fully.

[SurlySeraph]

Bumping in case your hard drive is fixed.

[GolemsVoice]

It isn't fixed, and never will. It's DEAD. DEAD! DEAD! In time I will continue this LP, but probably open a new one/drag this one up again. I'll have to play aaaaaall the way to where we left our hero. But your support is very appreciated! Thanks.

[GolemsVoice]

In Soviet Russia, Zone creates YOU!

We're back! Oh boy, we're back! I haven't replayed everything, but I've done enough new content by the way to warrant restarting this LP.

Once again, we're back into the http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/zone-30a.gif
Ugh... what's happened? Last thing I remember was exploring the Jupiter Buildings, when suddenly ... something happened, and now I'm here, my head apparently bandaged, and I feel pain. Outch. Well, luckily it's only aching, that means whatever has happened wasn't that bad. Or it has healed. Outch, moving is still painfull though. I think I'm going to rest a while.

A few days later...

So, the good people at Janow station told me about what happened. Apparently, I've fallen victim to what they call "Stalker's folly". I was so tuned for artifacts, mutants, anomalies and other dangers, that I totally forgot the most mundane danger of all: crumbling buildings. After all, those ruins haven't been maintained for about 20 years now, and they certainly weren't in the best state before. You know what they say about Soviet buildings. It seems I broke through the ceiling and fell, knocking me out cold and scratching me badly. Nothing broken, though. The luck's with those that earn it, eh? I spent a few days unconscious, but I survived, because another Stalker found me and dragged me back her. Being the hero of Janow station is good for more than just free drinks and the occasional pat on the back! I cannot imagine what would ahve happened if the mercenaries, bandits or mutants found me first. Well, I COULD imagine. It wouldn't be pretty.

But I'm all good now, so let's continue where we left. After a quick report back to the HQ (they thought I was dead, bastards), I'm now ready to continue adventuring!

That's my way of explaining the sudden break our good Major took. The quests I haven't done yet are killing the mutant dwarves and the chimera (so technically, I'm no hero of Janow station yet :smallwink:, explore the Controller cave, and plant the detectors, the quest I was about to do when my harddrive crashed. A few changes have happened, naturally, like a new assault rifle (neat gun, I love it) which I took from the cold dead hands of one of the Jupiter mercenaries, etc...

Here's one I missed back in Zaton, just pretend it always has happened this way.

So, Beard told me of some friends of his that are trying to spy on a bandit meeting, and asked me if I could accompany them. Not a problem! No one likes bandits!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-12-10_16-48-21_zaton.jpg
I meet his man. We sneak in, and I witness an exchange between bandits and emrcenaries. The mercenaries are obviosuly trading good equipment for artifacts. Bastards.
The exchange itself was a cutscene, otherwise I'd have supplied screenshots, of course
Can't let that happen, can we? Let's stop them the old-fashioned way.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-12-10_16-50-28_zaton.jpg

A few good rounds of white-hot lead later, both bandits and mercenaries got what they deserved, and I recover the trader's PDA. Apparently, the trader has access to Duty storage. That should interest the people back at the Skadowsk!

Now back to Jupiter!

A Stalekr told me that if you come close to the old cooling plant, you can hear radio messages asking for help. Like a Stalker trapped in an anomaly. But if you ask for coordinates, nothing happens. Spooky. Let's check that out, shall we?
At night. Creeeeeepy time.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-11-28_jupiter.jpg
For now, it's Night of the Living Dead. But they are no match for my new toy. Joy.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-11-53_jupiter.jpg
After a few more undead, I arrive at the cooling tower. Ominously, it points skywards.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-12-19_jupiter.jpg
And here come the messages. A voice, obviosuly in distress, keeps calling out for something. Three messages seem to repeat themselves endlessly. "...find a way out. We're running out of...", "... we've been without water for two days, request help..." and "...trapped... can't make it much longer..."
But even a throrough search reveals nothing, and my detectors show no anomaly that he knows of. Quite frankly, this place is giving me the creeps, I'm out of here. I have more important, not-as-frightful-things to do. Like checking out the crashsite of Stingray 1, which, amusingly, landed in a minefield. God, how I smiled! Not.
But orders are orders.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-43-19_jupiter.jpg
Here we are, and once again, my trusty scre turns out to be my life-saver! A soft "thud" means "nothing but earth here", while a metallic "clank" means "death below!". Slowly, I crawl forward.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-43-49_jupiter.jpg
From crater to crater.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-44-59_jupiter.jpg
To the body of an unfortunate comrade...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-45-41_jupiter.jpg
And finally back on safe ground! Phew. I haven't sweated as much since I got my first girlfriend, know what I mean?
I find two bodies and a deleted onboard computer, but luckily, the black box wasn't harmed. I'll take that to a savy technician.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-46-22_jupiter.jpg
Wait... what's that thundering? Sounds like... INCOMING!
A big wave of freaking boars and flesh! And they're coming right for me! Waiiit. There's still that minefiled, yes? That should be amusing.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-25-10_09-46-29_jupiter.jpg
And it is. After that stampede, getting back is only a small problem. Only the smell of mutant bacon is somewhat distracting. He he.


Nitro, my dextrous friend, quickly cracks the black box. The message tells all other survivors to meet at a point B29. You all get to guess where it lies!


Now, playground, when will Call of Prypjat be release in the U.S.?

[Asheram]

Now, playground, when will Call of Prypjat be release in the U.S.?

Rumor places the Europe (And I guess US as well since Australia has the same release date) release at February fifth.

[SurlySeraph]

Yay, the Picnic is back!

I'm trying to remember if there was a "B29" mentioned in one of the other games; I doubt it, but something tells me it's going to be in Pripyat.

What's that big helmet in your inventory?

Oh, and you have a SPAS shotgun and a G36 now. Looks like you're on the up-and-up!

[GolemsVoice]

Rumor places the Europe (And I guess US as well since Australia has the same release date) release at February fifth.

Well, I'm German. Rumor has it it's already out :smallwink:. Did Finnland get the Eastern European/Russian release?


I'm trying to remember if there was a "B29" mentioned in one of the other games; I doubt it, but something tells me it's going to be in Pripyat.

Aaand Surly Seraph is teh winnah. How could you ever guess that?


What's that big helmet in your inventory? Depends on what helmet you mean? The helmet I'm wearing is just your standard army helmet (with added gadgets of course) and the white scary mask (seriously, look at the EYES!) is your standard gas mask, with some extras. Helmet for combat, gas mask for Zone hazards. The big orange thing is the skull of a chimera, from which I drink.

[SurlySeraph]

Aaand Surly Seraph is teh winnah. How could you ever guess that?

I had to think really hard about it. :smalltongue:


Depends on what helmet you mean? The helmet I'm wearing is just your standard army helmet (with added gadgets of course) and the white scary mask (seriously, look at the EYES!) is your standard gas mask, with some extras. Helmet for combat, gas mask for Zone hazards. The big orange thing is the skull of a chimera, from which I drink.

I meant the big orange thing. Which does not look remotely skull-like to me, but chimeras are weird.

[GolemsVoice]

It isn't the skull of a chimera, I'm just messing with your head. WohooOohohO!
:smallbiggrin: It's actually just the Black Box (which is neither black nor a box, but here you go) of the downed Stingray.


So, Playgrounders! Beware, the following article contains 1.) SCIENCE! and 2.) CHOICE!


After returning from slaying those strange mutant dwarves in the tunnel, I come across a wounded Stalker, Splinter. He tells me he and his friend were sent to acquire an artifact from the nearby anomaly field, but his "friend" just ran away once they had the artifact and Splinter was wounded. Guess who that SOB was? Flint! That guy that sits around in Yanow all day telling stories of how HE gassed all the Bloodsuckers in Zaton and how HE made a new map for Pilot and so on. I would have ended him were he stood if I was allowed to draw a weapon inside Yanow station. When I confront him, he of course says he never did anything, and I can't prove it... but just when I turn around to sell my stuff, he starts bragging about how he killed a Chimera. His story sounds remarkably similiar to that of a Stalker named Magpie, whose cowardice cost the live of Fang, trusty hunter. Only with him the mighty slayer, and not the coward newbie. That should interest Gonta. And boy, it does.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_10-58-54_zaton.jpg
He is very grateful, and tells me he will deal with Flint/Magpie his way. Goood. He also tells me of a wounded Chimera he found sleeping nearby, and asks me if I want to come with him. And sure I do!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_10-59-32_zaton.jpg
By the way, here is another achievement I got for ending Flint's treachery. It's called Defender of Justice, and it means I get a part of Flint's ill-gotten goods and some respect.
But before we go, I order a special suit from Nimble. I just hope he makes good on the promises he gave me. 40000 rubels, with 8000 cash in advance isn't a sum I pay lightly.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_11-01-10_zaton.jpg
But back to hunting Chimeras. Ther she is. Isn't she a beauty?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_11-05-18_zaton.jpg
Wounded as she is, and with the help of two other hunters, she doesn't make it long.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_11-05-56_zaton.jpg
And for being such an overall nice guy, here's another achievement! Friend to the Stalkers. Means that I buy medical goods much cheaper, and that Stalkers will try to help me should they see me in danger.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_11-40-36_jupiter.jpg
Back in Jupiter, I deliver three Veles-Detectors to Hermann, who thaws a bit and asks me to place three detectors in anomaly fields to verify his theory of connections between emissions and the artifacts.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-15-04_jupiter.jpg
Here's the first.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-16-53_jupiter.jpg
There's the second. And the third is quickly placed inside the electrical anomaly field on the parking lot.
Hermann is overjoyed.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-22-47_jupiter.jpg
By the way, you can see the warped transformator I brought in earlier. I wonder if the other two empty devices will also be filled by me? I really love such small touches in the game.
He then asks me to protect his Stalkers while they take readings on two anomaly site. No problem!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-30-18_jupiter.jpg
I thought. But as soon as they start measuring, a whole army of Flesh and Boars start stampeding in. Luckily, they are not very smart, and hard to miss. This could feed the enitre Zone for a few months, provided anybody would want to eat it.
The second site lies near a town that was buried after the explosion at Chernobyl, and is apparently a really creepy place full of Zombies.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-58-27_jupiter.jpg
It's still creepy after we leave, but contains less Zombies. He he he.
When I mention the high rate of mutant attacks to Hermman, he is very surprised, and says something about Osserski's theories.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-36-58_jupiter.jpg
Osserski explains that he has the theory that mutants can "read" the fields that surround anomaly field and interpret them, and that any human interference with those fields draws them near. I volunteer to tests that. God help me...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-43-57_jupiter.jpg
Another one of those small touches. When it rains, moisture collects on my scope.
But before I throw away my life in the name of science, let's place another two detectors in anomaly fields. Coupled with one of the new Swarog detectors Hermann promises to sell me when I am nice, I can allways just look if there are currently any artifacts in the anomaly. That's what I call applied science!
Let's place the first one:
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-45-24_jupiter.jpg
And the second one:
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-59-16_jupiter.jpg
All done!
Now, concerning that theory:
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-49-07_jupiter.jpg
This is a mutant detectors. If the theory holds true it should draw those beasts into an anomaly they normally avoid.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-49-41_jupiter.jpg
And look!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-49-55_jupiter.jpg
More...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-51-04_jupiter.jpg
Amusinlgy, the normally so cautious and sensitive mutants throw their own security completely to the wind, so they run into gravitational anomalies and explode (which cracked me up, I will admit it) or get burned. Serves them right, I guess.
Just watch out, those grav-anomalies are messy.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-51-26_jupiter.jpg

http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-52-55_jupiter.jpg
Hmm, what's cooking?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_12-53-10_jupiter.jpg
Christmas tree stash! Only with REAL weapons.
After ahving so tirelessly devoted myself to science, Hermann thanks me in the name of every scientist in the world. That warms my heart. It really does.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_13-05-31_jupiter.jpg
And another achievement! Research Associate! Hermann now sells me scientific equipment and drugs.
I purchase the latest detector, the Swarog-Detector, and Hermann tells me to go investigate that strange anomaly at the cooling plant I came across earlier. The one with the radio messages.
While we're talking, we are surprised by an emission. This Duty guard doesn't let that disturb his cool, nor the fact that the dor isn't closed. Oh well.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_13-05-57_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_13-07-10_jupiter.jpg
Here's the new and improved model! Ready for action!
As son as I get closer to the site Hermann mentioned, I see this strange... thing here, apparently made visible by the detector.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_13-08-49_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_13-09-06_jupiter.jpg
When I get closer it starts to flash and...
.. good god! What IS that! What the hell is happening here?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_01-27-10_13-09-10_jupiter.jpg
A pile of bodies suddenly falls out of the anomaly, all clad in Duty uniforms...
And here's the twist. On one of them, I find a PDA. It's the PDA of somebody named General Tachenko. The founder of Duty!
Apparently, they got trapped inside the anomaly, wandering a sort of fog forever. It also reveals that Tachenko cut the communication on purpose to allow him to form Duty. The "official" gfounding story of Duty goes like this: During the military raid on the Zone, communication was lost, and Tachenko gathered the surviving soldiers to form Duty to protect others from the Zone's dangers. This should interest quite a few people!

I now have three choices: Give the PDA to Lt. Shuga, leader of Duty in Yanow station, who would like to surpress this information.
I could also give it to Loki, leader of Freedom, who would like to spread the news, or I could give it to Uhu, the information trader, who would do god knows what with it. What should I do?

[SurlySeraph]

Beautiful details (I am ashamed to admit that I actually went "Squee!" and grinned like an idiot when you pointed out the moisture on the scope), plot twists, and luring mutants into gravitational anomalies for SCIENCE!

I'm a bit concerned about that Duty soldier. Does he... is there some kind of port in his suit, or what?

While I love Duty in principle, they have proven that their approach to Zone management just makes things worse. And I suspect things will be much more interesting if you hand the PDA over to Freedom.

[GolemsVoice]

I'm a bit concerned about that Duty soldier. Does he... is there some kind of port in his suit, or what?

We do not talk about that. Duty secret.


While I love Duty in principle, they have proven that their approach to Zone management just makes things worse. And I suspect things will be much more interesting if you hand the PDA over to Freedom.

Much more interesting, definitively. But the soldier in me gravitates towards duty. Let's see if somebody else gives his opinion.

[GolemsVoice]

Mo Stalkin', mon. Short update, but behold, more audience participation!

Back to Zaton! Let's see if Uhu already has the detectors I brought Nowikow to modify. Also, let's make some money.
I visit the burned down farm, in search of valuable artifacts, but instead there's
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-33-05_zaton.jpg
Hot Dogs. Ha ha ha.
And everyone's favorite prophet o' doom, Noah.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-32-49_zaton.jpg
I wave my hand in front of him, but he doesn't notice. He also doesn't care about the heat, it seems. Actually, he cares about pretty little, I guess. Sometimes I want to know what he's seeing when he's looking like that. But I'd rather not.
By the way, the new detector is great!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-32-37_zaton.jpg
The little symbols mark anomalies, and so it's easy to avoid them. And I've got one of the four of these things in the zone. Neat. It's still a little tricky to actually connect the symbols with the real anomalies, but I manage it pretty well. For a short moment, I muse about how it takes all the excitement out of artifact hunting. But 90% of that excitement is the chance of getting horribly mangled or burned or gassed by some force that is not natural and should not be, so I guess that's ok.
By the way, something embarassing happened. Apparently, there's a workshop that served the transformation station, but I never noticed it. I'm quite the tracker, eh? But workshop sounds like tools, and that sounds like Kardan might be interested. http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-09-08_zaton.jpg
Sadly, a group of mercenaries have made camp at the workshop, and tell me to piss off, since they're hungry and nervous.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-09-43_zaton.jpg
But when I offer to do something about the hungry, they warm up. The leader orders six sausages, six cans of meat and six loafs of bread. Normally, I'd have told them to go stuff it, but it's nice to actually have a chance to resolve something peacefully.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-12-37_zaton.jpg
A Bloodsucker tries to avenge his fallen bretheren, but I'm having none of it. Invisible freaks of nature. The sooner all of them are dead, the better.
Back at the ship, I talk to Uhu (whom the English wiki calls Owl, which means Uhu). He tells me Nowikow's man hasn't arrived yet, but just when I leave the ship, ladden with tasty treats for my mercenary friends, he radios me, and tells me to come talk to him.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-18-31_zaton.jpg
Uhu says that I should go see Beard about my money, because it seems like Beard has not held up his part of an agreement the two had.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-19-17_zaton.jpg
Beard however says that his Staljers only need two of the detectors, and that he has no use for the third, but Uhu doesn't want to take it back.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-20-13_zaton.jpg
Uhu tells me that Beard is getting "delusions of grandeur"
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-20-26_zaton.jpg
and that he knows some guy named Sultan (whose Bandit ambush I betrayed when I had just arrived in the Zone, he he he) who can put those Stalkers "into their place". I do not like where this is going.
I'll think about how to resolve this issue.
Beard on the other hand tells me to go look for an artifact named "Compass", which is incredibly rare. There are tales that it helps you navigate fields of anomalies, and so it is sought after like nothing else. Noah seems to know more about it.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-26-53_zaton.jpg
Not only does he know more, he hands it to me, just like that. So that I won't bother him anymore. That guy IS crazy. But his loss. Nice that something works out easier thatn planned, instead of always the other wa round.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-27-23_zaton.jpg
LOOK at this artifact. LOOK at it. This should buy me the Skadowsk, at least.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-02-10_17-29-40_zaton.jpg
Instead it buys me something much more important, the trust of the Skadowsk's Stalkers.
The Achievement is called "One of Us" and means that Beard will offer me more money for artifacts I bring him, and Uhu will give me a discount.


That's it for today, but now the questions to you:
First: How should I resolve the Beard/Uhu situation? Intimidated Uhu for the money, or talk to Sultan for some unlawful doings?
And second: I now have about 55000 rubels, and could easily raise the same sum should I go artifact hunting, so let's spend the money. Nimble has several things to offer, and his stuff is usually very high class, but also expensive.
He has:

A pistol. I doubt this would be of much use to me, but at least it'll be cheap.
An assault rifle. This could be useful, and I ahve the suspicion that Nimble's goods are unique, so I won't find this gun anywhere else.
A sniper rifle. I already have a Vintar BC stashed away, but Nimble's will probably come with even more gadets to add.
An exoskeleton, for when you really have to be mobile suit Stalker. I can't imagine a situation that can't be improved by wearing these, but it will surely be the most expensive item.

So, you get to choose what to buy, and what upgrades to add, once I've bought it.

EDIT: I know that you will probably be getting very little out of the scrrenshots of German dialogue, but I included them to show that there was actual dialogue instead of just writing about it.

[SurlySeraph]

Could you pay the money out of your own pocket? If not, I'd intimidate Uhu. No sense getting bandits involved.
If the assault rifle's even shinier than the G36 you've got, go for it. Pistols are rarely worth having, and the Vintar tends to be the only sniper rifle you need.

[GolemsVoice]

Sadly, I can't pay the money out of my own pocket. Let's pay Uhu a visit! That guy is some kind of crook, he deserves to get a bit shaken. And I'll order an assault rifle, will do!

[GolemsVoice]

Yes! Another!

Soooo! That Uhu crook's going to get what he had coming. I shake him up a bit, and he spits out the money, no problem!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_11-42-28_zaton.jpg
Now, time to order something from Nimble. I feel like a new gun. Nimble says he can get one for just 20000 rubels. Deal!
Now, let's visit the Mercs and drop of our food, they must get anxious. Though I can't really say I'm feeling sorry for them.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-00-10_zaton.jpg
But once I've handed over the food, they seem to be more or less ok. They tell me to look around, but warn me to leave my weapon holstered. That's fair, although I don't feel quite comfortable around them.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-01-22_zaton.jpg
I grab the tools, and get out of here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-01-41_zaton.jpg
By the way, as you seldom get the chance to see one up close, here's their emblem.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-02-40_zato-1.jpg
A short stop at the Circle anomaly, just be careful you two!
Another nice touch. Stalkers actually visit anomalies, and don't just wander around aimlessly.
Back at the Skadowsk, my new weapon is waiting for me!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-05-44_zaton.jpg
Oh, yes! Jackpot! This weapon is love. Although I first made sure Nimble didn't just whack an actor from Starship Troopers over the head and take his gun. This baby even has a mounted grenade launcher!
Now, what should I do with it?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-09-16_zaton.jpg
After applying the basic upgrades, I have a few choices. I can either: Increase it's Reliability by 15%, or the Flatness of the shots by 20%. I can also either increase the flatness by 20%, or the Rate of Fire by 15%, and either increase the Reliability by 15% or the accuracy by 20%. Reliability means that the weapon will be more resistant to wear, while all other stas should speak for themselves.
With the new weapon safely locked away until I decide which upgrades to get, I return to Jupiter. After all, I have a mission to do...ooooh! Artifacts!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-14-47_jupiter.jpg
With the new scanners in place, I can always see where artifacts lie to be discovered, and even what kind of artifacts!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-19-03_jupiter.jpg
These should fetch a nice price from Beard. (And, boy, they do! If you find an artifact that he is currently looking for, you can easily make between 15000 and 25000 rubels.)
When I investigate the Concrete anomaly, my head starts hurting. Never a good sign. Then comes the high-pitched noise in my ears. Damn! Psychic activity... ohhh...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-49-34_jupiter.jpg
And here's the source. Bastard controller. I'll have to put an end to that, quickly! All that messing with myhead starts to drive me crazy....
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-49-48_jupiter.jpg
But luckily, I prove more resilient than he. I'll never get used to this psychic stuff, never. How can you FIGHT something you can't see? I mean, radiation, yes. I can just take pills to get that out of my system, but these mind attacks... I just don't LIKE them, ok?
Seriously, Controller attacks are a bitch. They are not that dangerous once you've acquired enough protection, but the way he attacks is both annoying and scary. First you zoom on him, and he does some kind of psychic blast accompanied by the short image of a skull and you're back in your body, but facing skywards and holstering your weapon. Now, this is scary for me, I imagine it must be living hell for Major Degtyarev. Sadly, it's hard to get a picture.
But let's continue with the mission, it should clear my head.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-51-53_jupiter.jpg
Onwards to Jupiter. The way I know my Zone, it's probably just another region of Hell, but it's my duty. I've sworn an oath. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though.
Come on, Degtyarev. Don't get soft!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-52-27_jupiter.jpg
I've marked my objectives, but getting there isn't as easy as it looks, I know this much from previous explorations.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-52-30_jupiter.jpg
Somebody has taken great care to make sure that I don't get to the building housing the elevator easily.
That's your stereotypcial Waist High Fence, right there. Couldn't they at least have made it a form of wall? Like, ready-made tiles, or at least a higher fence?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-54-04_jupiter.jpg
Somehow, this area is always populated by mutant dogs. But they have a hard time even scratching me.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-54-36_jupiter.jpg
Looks like somebody tried to get OUT, and now there's no way I'm getting IN. Damn!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-55-13_jupiter.jpg
Back in the hallway. I have already investigated this area once, but not fully. At least I found some documents that told me of the existence of this elevator. But they also told me that there are orders to have the subterran way to Pripjat flooded with gas. I hope they didn't have the time to do this, or else my job has just gotten a lot worse.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-56-09_jupiter.jpg
And just to prove that even the Zone has a sense for the dramatical, an emission starts! At least I won't ahve to search for cover.
Welcome, by the way, to Hell's workshops:
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-57-24_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-57-51_jupiter.jpg
As soon as the hall can be entered again, I investigate further. Two dogs try to stop me, but fail.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-59-17_jupiter.jpg
A letter... let's see. Apparently, research object 62 is to be transported to Department 1 (this Department 1 came up in many letters and documents I've found so far, something's going on there, hard!), but it can only be transported via the tunnels. So this Department 1 will likely be found in Pripjat. Oh great. I bet it's another scientific hellhole.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_12-59-44_jupiter.jpg
Finally, here's the last of the Stingrays. This one, too, has been blasted by an unknown force, but the anomaly warning system is still intact... strange. I'll have to investigate what has caused such damage to the two helicopters. And I bet I'll find the answer in Pripjat!
It's getting to dark, I'll switch to night vision.

http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-01-13_jupiter.jpg
Another abandoned workshop.
And here's the elevator at last, somewhere around here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-01-46_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-02-32_jupiter.jpg
I find a document detailing what exactly happened here:
They sealed the elevator doors, blocked the train gates, welded them shut, and, yes, sealed the whole tunnel air tight and filled it with poisonous gas! This is just GREAT! Now I'll have to find someone to get to work on the emergency generators to open the elevator doors that lead down to the tunnels. I'll best speak to a technician abpout this. Let's get out of here.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-03-27_jupiter.jpg
Oh, and now I get it. I was searching for some kind of personal elevator, but THIS is the elevator. In hindsight, I should probably have expected this. I feel stupid. But I bet that's making matters even more complicated, after all, this gaint should be harder to repair than one of those cabin things, I guess?
Back outside in the rain again, only one thing remains, and that's getting the final info on the tunnels.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-07-48_jupiter.jpg
Located in here. Now I have everything I need to talk to someone with more knowledge of technical things. But first, undead.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-13-37_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-15-57_jupiter.jpg
Herrmann doesn't really seem interested in this whole elevator thing, but I get to tell him about the strange anomaly back at the coolant plant. Though he says my recounting was "unscientific" (why doesn't HE go out next time, hm?) he names the anomaly "Space Bubble". So this is how it works.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-17-45_jupiter.jpg
Nitro knows more, at last.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-07-10_13-18-22_jupiter.jpg
I have to assemble a team to get to Pripjat, because going alone would be suicide. He's right about that, I guess, though I prefer to work alone. I should talk to Zulu about that, Nitro says.
When I have gathered my team, I will have to equip them all with suits with closed-circuit breathing systems. Gas-filled tunnels and all that. So, we have a mission!


By the way, I of course bought the Special Edition. Here's what it contains!
http://pe2.hmcdn.de/media/item/20/05/28/81/item_L_20052881_64606731.jpg

[SurlySeraph]

Call of Pripyat lets you get the FN F2000 early enough to actually be useful? Score! Since you've got a sniper rifle lying around, go with the Reliability and Rate of Fire upgrades for it.

Equipping a team sounds expensive, and most likely extensive-side-quest-requiring. Fortunately, you probably have a good number of qualified people you can recruit at this point, what with being nice to all of the stalkers and some of the mercs.

[Archonic Energy]

By the way, I of course bought the Special Edition. Here's what it contains!
http://pe2.hmcdn.de/media/item/20/05/28/81/item_L_20052881_64606731.jpg

i wish the UK special edition came with all that!
all i got was the soundtrack, some art cards, & a map...
Yay.

also on a related note.
my first game ended with me dying within 20 minutes... God i love these games!
no comprimise!

[GolemsVoice]

my first game ended with me dying within 20 minutes... God i love these games!
no comprimise!

Nope, never. By the way, the soundtrack was included on the disc as well, though I only found that out by accident, they didn't even advertise this. That's what I call service. Though I still hoped they had included one of the non-radiating artifacts...:smallfrown:

[Archonic Energy]

erm... help! :smalleek:

what armours/helmets have NVG in them?
i only ask because i need to see in the dark better... :smallredface:

OMG you DO have a torch!
it's not in the manual though!

[GolemsVoice]

Nope. But that would be boring, wouldn't it? You can also obtain a helmet with NVGs from the quest where you have to recover the crate out of the chasm with the Snorks, it's the last item. If I remember correctly.

But the torch is way more atmospheric!

[GolemsVoice]

I'm sorry you all had to wait, but the next installment will come when I have finsihed my vacation in three days. My photobucket bandwidth limit should be restored by then, too.

[Archonic Energy]

in the mean time, i met my first controler today...
Intresting fact 1: you can run out of range of a controler due to their slow movement
intresting fact 2: Bullets can outrange psy effects! :smallamused:

[GolemsVoice]

I'm sorry you had to wait so long, Real Life interferred. Here's the next one! I hope you're still with me.


So, a team, yes? Let's see. First I should talk to Zulu in his tower, he'll know what to do. But first, let's ahve a look at our new weapon. Yeees!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_11-51-25_jupiter.jpg
Here's the tower!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_11-51-32_jupiter.jpg
And here's the guy.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_11-52-22_jupiter.jpg
So I tell him of my mission. No problem, he says, but first, we'll have a drink! Allright...
But somehow, each bit of information I tell him excites him so much that he simply has to drink to it... not that I mind.
...
...
...
I do mind...
...
...
...
I don't mind anything anymooowhoah! Slippery here...
...
...
..
.

A few hours later...

OUCH! They can make suits that allow you to basically LIVE in an anomaly, but they can't make a helmet that protects against headaches.... damn! How much did I...oooooh.
A few minutes later...

oook. I'm, well, fit again. Still feeling a bit woozy, though. Apparently we discussed the details, though. I need to gather a team, and I should seek out those that owe me, and have no faction that needs them.
Time to call in some favors.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_11-57-06_jupiter.jpg
Wano, for example, says he'll help me, since I paid his debt. Funny thing is that he pawned his suit to Hawaiian, and that'll be 5000. Grudgingly, I pay him. At least he brings his own suit.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_11-57-25_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_11-58-00_jupiter.jpg
And here are our two brave members! Asking around in Yanov leads nowhere. The others don't want to go, and Freedom and Duty can hardly spare any men. Suckers. Who wouldn't want to go to Pripyat?
I think I'll ask Sokolov, the stranded Lieutnant in the scientist's bunker.
In front of the bunker stands Topol, and it seems he got an upgrade!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-03-44_jupiter.jpg
He and his team are now working more closely with the scientists, thanks to the missions they did under my protection. Grateful, he hands me a bunch of protective medicine and a nice helmet. Look!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-04-12_jupiter.jpg
Sadly, he doesn't want to lead his gang to Pripyat with me. I could ahve needed him.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-06-14_jupiter.jpg
Lt. Sokolov accepts, but the military didn't supply him with an airtight suit, of course. So it's my job to get him one.
Hermann is pretty tight with ressources, but Oserski promises me a suit if I get him a special flower that grows in a mutated forest nearby. Sounds okay, I guess.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-07-43_jupiter.jpg
Here's my objective.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-13-27_jupiter.jpg
The forest is filled with gas, but with my new helmet, it's hardly a problem to go in, grab the flower, and return. If only all jobs were this easy.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-15-40_jupiter.jpg
That's the flower. What poetry in this barren land, bla bla.
On my way back to the lab, I buy my own suit.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-17-11_jupiter.jpg
25000 isn't cheap, but it's protective value really speaks for itself. I just shouldn't bring it to a gunfight. But there shouldn't be anyone left in that tunnel, I think.
Oserski is overjoyed, and hands me the suit. He also tells me that it was originaly reserved for Hermann. Hi hi hi. But that would mean they would ever leave their lab, and how likely is THAT?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-20-06_jupiter.jpg
It also nets me a new achievement, Pioneer. My brave forays into unknown territory, both literaly and scientifically, now enable the scientists to to produce Anabiotika, which let me survive emissions.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-21-42_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-21-45_jupiter.jpg
Now our team consists of three men, and I'm out of ideas. Maybe Noah? Or Gonta? Asking them can't hurt, can it?
I also take Zulu's Vodka, as revenge.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-21-51_jupiter.jpg
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_12-32-04_jupiter.jpg
When it comes to anomaly protection, nothing beats my SEVA-suit. But, as mentioned, it won't protect me in a fight.
When I enter the Skadowsk, Snag accuses me of having stolen his weapon. Like hell.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-02-07_zaton.jpg
I ask him if he's sure, and tell him that I bought this weapon from Nimble, but he starts shouting at me about how "all the guys here are on his side". So I tell him that I could just as well blow his brains out and be done with it. That calms him down.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-02-48_zaton.jpg
Even if it WAS his weapon, he lost it, it's mine now.
Noah doesn't want to go to Pripyat (There was no option to ask him)
but he hands me another compass artifact, just like that. I wonder if it's a bug, or if Noah just pulls them out of his hat because of his crazy connection to the Zone?
While I'm there, I decide to make some money. gathering a team and gearing up for Pripyat isn't cheap!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-12-53_zaton.jpg
Here...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-15-26_zaton.jpg
And here, where the Poltergeist has returned...
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-18-05_zaton.jpg
An emission forces me to seek cover. And you guys should seek cover, too!
Sadly, my cover is the Snork-infested chasm. But I can't be picky, can I?
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-33-09_zaton.jpg
And while investigating another anomaly (and hopefully, artifact)-filled cave, I discover the body of Barge, one of Kardan's two buddies. His PDA suggests that Kardan abandoned them because of an argument they had, and Joker, the other member of the team, left, too. http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-34-02_zaton.jpg
Nice place to die, really. Another one of those wandering anomalie nearly burns me!
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-36-41_zaton.jpg
But finally I breathe fresh air again.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/GolemsVoice/ss_kilian_02-21-10_13-37-45_zaton.jpg
Hatchet, leader of the Mercs I supplied with food, prefers to stay here, too.
Back at the Skadowsk, I bring Kardan the bad news. He takes it better than expected.

That's it for now, but our mission is clear. I will try to find a fourth team member, maybe the tracker that waits in the scientist's bunker. He desperately wants to go to Pripyat, but can't because a contract with the scientists forces him to stay until he brings them two artifacts, and I agreed to bring them to him should I happen to find them. I already have one.

[Arcanoi]

I really like your LP. Stalker is fun, but it's a pain at times, so getting most of the good parts without actually having to play through it is great :smallbiggrin:

[GolemsVoice]

Thanks! But how is playing it painful? I agree it's a bit harsher than most shooters, especially at the last two difficulties, but I find it immensely fun!

[Starbuck_II]

I tried the cheapest Steam one: Clear Skies has a couple bugs. Reminds me of ToEE but instead of corrupting a save it just cancels the current game (which can be annoying when you just wanted to save).

Another bug: 1/2 the time you attempt to throw a screw, you don't. Same for grenades.

But it was fun.

[GolemsVoice]

Yeah, I went straight from the first game to the third, since I heard how horribly buggy the second was. However, here in Germany you can now get the bundled package, with all three games, for about 30 euros, so you could try looking for that.

[Flickerdart]

Steam has the game for $19.99 for people that own either Chernobyl or Clear Sky. Is it worth it, or should I wait until it gets one of those $5 sales?

[Arcanoi]

Thanks! But how is playing it painful? I agree it's a bit harsher than most shooters, especially at the last two difficulties, but I find it immensely fun!

Stalker isn't very forgiving, if you've noticed. And I'm just not good enough at most games to find that an altogether-good thing. Plus the moments like this...

"Okay... good on ammo, this gun's holding together fine."
Waddlewaddlewaddle
****, a 'sucker."
pewpewpewpewpew
"Whew. Okay. It's dead."
Blurpblurpblurp
"Wait... what's that sound...?"
"HOW DID THAT GET BEHIND ME? AND THERE'S FOUR OF THEM AND OHGODWHY?"
-Inarticulate screaming-

[Flickerdart]

And then you start running away, fall into an anomaly and die in one of many fun and exciting ways.

Someone should make a Stalker Roguelike.

[GolemsVoice]

I think the first game is much harder, as you can't repair your weapons and armor. Call of Pripyat is easier, since you a) can repair and upgrade your gear, b) know where to look for anomalies and artifacts. And if you're a little diligent, you can make money easily. And once you've acquired some rubels, you can order all the toys that make the Zone almost boring. But I admit that it is still much less forgiving than other shooters, especially at the beginning. I've had my fair share of "out of ammo, gun's barely holding together, and so is my armor, and WHY DO THEY ALL HATE ME?"

[Archonic Energy]

do you want a pointer where to pick up the 3rd person?

also you should try to make 100K. there's an acheivement which makes the stores sell their best stuff to you...

[GolemsVoice]

I'd love to know how to activate third person, thanks! And I didn't know about the 100000, though it shouldn't be a problem.

[Archonic Energy]

go slightly north of the container wharehouse...

Current Acheivements
Detective
Friend of Stalkers
Courier of Justice
Leader
Mutant Hunter
One of Ours
Pioneer
Research Assistant
A wealthy Client

[GolemsVoice]

Oh, I misread your post, sorry :-) I thought you meant Third Person, as in Third person view. I'll go there though, thanks for the advice, Stalker.

[Archonic Energy]

heh, i thought that looked a bit odd...

Anyway you're welcome STALKER

[SurlySeraph]

And then you start running away, fall into an anomaly and die in one of many fun and exciting ways.

Someone should make a Stalker Roguelike.

You have been eaten by a bloodsucker.
Do you want your items identified?

[GolemsVoice]

It is dark down here. You are likely to be eaten by a Bloodsucker. Anyway: Next part coming soon. And not the Blizzard soon.

[Archonic Energy]

still waiting.

also money is becoming a problem... surely 400000 is a bit much to be carrying around in your pocket! :smalltongue:

[GolemsVoice]

Sorry to ahve kept you waiting. Work and RL is currently keeping me from playing much, and then Photobucket decided to make Bandwidth trouble, but finally, here I am!

Time to make some more money! Artifact hunting, again.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuZs6YlDI/AAAAAAAAALg/8XRAjerOh9M/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-22-12_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Hmm, expensive! I bet Beard is looking for some of those.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuaTM9mzI/AAAAAAAAALk/D7l-t2F53sI/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-22-28_%28jupiter%29.jpg
But YOU'RE not getting any of it!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iubeo9OgI/AAAAAAAAALs/zXrPvJScu24/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-25-26_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Hmm, on my way back to another anomaly site, I came upon this. Stalker playground, eh? I bet there's something hidden here.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IudHHR-qI/AAAAAAAAAL0/h7pw0U6ld2k/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-26-30_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Something that is not a mutant dog. Seriously, those beasts are far too quick for their own good, and far too aggressive.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iud9JJ_XI/AAAAAAAAAL4/i3JbQojfa_M/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-26-50_%28jupiter%29.jpg
And indeed, a little searching paid off. Sadly, only a few rounds of ammo and an AK. Well, Hawaiian still buys them.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iue9tfigI/AAAAAAAAAL8/J9afnEGP6BA/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-32-18_%28jupiter%29.jpg
More artifacts!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IufjwMbiI/AAAAAAAAAMA/ST9AhAhZRlM/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-33-27_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Somehow, this seems not... right. Goddamn birds. God, I love this picture, it's just the right combination. Sadly, you can't hear their cries, that would make it perfect.
Fighting some hamsters, and the biggest pack of dogs I've encountered so far, I happen across this underground tunnel. Hmm, let's go exploring, I've got this tingling in my spine that says treasure! Well, that or "you're going to die horribly and no one will ever find your corpse". Something tells me that those two things lie close together here in the Zone.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuhG3G6kI/AAAAAAAAAMI/OuaOHOmd0yk/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-38-35_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Hallway. Wait, let me check my PDA. A-ha! I knew there was a way to get there!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iuh3qk4YI/AAAAAAAAAMM/nVcsv1q_YaI/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-39-21_%28jupiter%29.jpg
That's below the place where I wrestled the Chimera.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iui_GklZI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/BOBESxOQzrE/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-39-43_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Another tunnel, another hallway. Time to go on....
...
Wait. ANOTHER hallway? This can't be...
...oh god. It's not another hallway, it's THE SAME! What on earth is happening here? Why can't I go on? Damn this Zone!
And what's that?

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iuj7hh_sI/AAAAAAAAAMY/WRfjzygbFlM/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-39-54_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Screw! Screw THIS.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IukvRCJkI/AAAAAAAAAMc/aBp9bPlpsVs/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-40-03_%28jupiter%29.jpg
It passes without anything happening. Hm. Detector?
Nothing.
I know I shouldn't but this whole mess somehow looks like teleportation technology. I know that would I say this in any other place ("Dude, I just happened across an abandoned Sovjet research facility, and guess what, they had teleportation since the early eighties.") I would probably put myself into an asylum, but here.... god, this is crazy! Let's DO IT!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IulWsZtsI/AAAAAAAAAMg/vGTe9aSMHok/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-40-19_%28jupiter%29.jpg
That certainly felt... like nothing at all. Because that's what happened. Nothing. I nearly DIED of fright when I jumped!
Waiiiit. I get it. A riddle! A strange sort of anomaly. There are several of these "gates" here... hm, let's try this.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iul0Pn6mI/AAAAAAAAAMk/rt48RnEyhxY/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-40-51_%28jupiter%29.jpg
*After having run through all portals without success, our intrepid hero resorts to blind experimentation*
Whoa. So you must run through all portals and then TURN AROUND. What the heck? Let's see where I've wandered. What was I thinking turning my back to an unexplor... whoah! Whoah WHOAH!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iumu98ZvI/AAAAAAAAAMo/6z7BKCvw21U/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-48-27_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! That must be the Oasis! Strike! Degtyarev, you are a genius! Let's see what it can do!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuoUME0iI/AAAAAAAAAMw/5JIo2aemVfg/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-48-39_%28jupiter%29.jpg
What beautyful place amon the concrete ruins. This must be the hear of the Oasis that people talk about. The scientists will surely want to see this!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuqyjPNgI/AAAAAAAAAM8/b_tnGsFjHZE/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-51-11_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Just take care of the guardian here. And climb out again. I still can't believe this. What wondrous place this Zone is, really. What strange, strange place.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Iur4Hd-UI/AAAAAAAAANA/KjZDHLN1yME/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_18-55-58_%28jupiter%29.jpg
A fellow Stalker said he'd seen a bunch of strange guys near the old container warehouse. When I checked, however, they turned out to be Monolith soldiers! Or, at least, a very convincing imitation, as they didn't seem to fly into religious rage when I approached them.
Instead, they told me about how the Monolith had called to them, and how, after the events that this Strelok set in motion, they found themselves without memory of anything between the initial call and the collapse of the Monolith, or whatever happened there. Now they are wandering aimless, afraid that their past deeds will turn them to mincemeat should they come near any other Stalker. Can't really blame them, though, as far as I know, NO ONE likes Monolith troops. And that's saying something in the Zone.
Still, I agreed to be their voice.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5Ius1E1uwI/AAAAAAAAANI/yzKdoGptNYI/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_19-03-33_%28jupiter%29.jpg
I decided to tell Loki about them, since no one would bother them once they wear Freedom suits, and I relly don't think Duty is the thing for them. Duty has it's own problems at the moment (heh) and I don't want to thrust them in that.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuuNT3TsI/AAAAAAAAANM/Wt7kYDl2qbA/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_19-04-37_%28jupiter%29.jpg
A few inspiring words later, Freedom is their new home, and the faction thanks me with one of their suits. Thanks!
Strider, the leader of the ex-Monolith people even agrees to go with me to Pripyat. That makes five of us! Very good!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuvbN2jLI/AAAAAAAAANQ/y7CJ0nSJvCc/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_19-07-02_%28jupiter%29.jpg
It also nets me the achievement "Leader", meaning that my team now has higher chances of survival thanks to my inspiring display of vodka drinking. dedication.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5IuwbAeFqI/AAAAAAAAANU/EJ6qJNBAm8A/s800/ss_kilian_03-05-10_19-13-40_%28zaton%29.jpg
Returning to Beard and dropping a truckload of artifacts on him, he tells me that word of my riches have spread, and that many merchants have decided to make their most valuable goods available to me, knowing that I have the money to buy them! Yeah!

That's it for now. I will now go on a one-week trip to London, and when I return, there will be more! Thanks for your patience and your constant input!

[Archonic Energy]

That's it for now. I will now go on a one-week trip to London

....

damn, the've found me...

*hides under a tree*

[GolemsVoice]

Ah, a Londoner? I just want to thank you!

[Flickerdart]

Man, I might just pick that game up, the achievement thing sounds really nice. The first game didn't really encourage exploration, either; stashes would be empty until you got data for them from a corpse.

[GolemsVoice]

I definitely recommend this game. I'd see it as a success if my LP made other people want to play this game. And I say again, do!

[GolemsVoice]

Addicted to Stalking


http://picasaweb.google.de/117040979945404549548/Stalker#5448448141693379922
There was only one last thing to do before heading to Pripyat, and that's finding Kardan's second friend, Joker. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue where to find him, so I'll just have to look around.
But first, something else. Ever since I got the coordinates, the stash under the pipeline bothered me. I could never reach it! So, maybe it's on TOP of the pipeline?
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zGuqKRNxI/AAAAAAAAAQI/RWmxtRFE-JE/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-41-04_%28zaton%29.jpg
Dummdidummdumm *whistle* Hello down there! Nice evening, isn't it?
http://picasaweb.google.de/117040979945404549548/Stalker#5448448174092427282
But unfortunately, it doesn't go any further. Damn!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zGyJ7mrSI/AAAAAAAAAQU/C6tX58zOEW4/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-46-11_%28zaton%29.jpg
Let's get back to the original mission.
Uhhh, look at that!
http://picasaweb.google.de/117040979945404549548/Stalker#5448448228534768578
Looks like that's Joker. His PDA tells of how he went here to get an artifact that he says is ON TOP of this tree-thingy. Apparently, the dogs got him. I feel sorry for him, but I won't let his insight go to waste.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zGzmz62XI/AAAAAAAAAQc/4blxoHy7zhw/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-48-57_%28zaton%29.jpg
Look at that!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG0R5Fh2I/AAAAAAAAAQg/zlf05VeGwQY/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-49-22_%28zaton%29.jpg
But I was really expecting something more unique. Meh. Will still fetch a decent price.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG041ytPI/AAAAAAAAAQk/uxe-JgRJzGs/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-53-11_%28zaton%29.jpg
It's not easy to see here, but, if left undisturbed, dogs will begin to eat the dead flesh and boars, and even drag them around. Of course I don't leave them undsiturbed, he he
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG15ncI5I/AAAAAAAAAQo/OjVC2yV26Eo/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-58-27_%28zaton%29.jpg
Back at the Skadowsk, I ask Nimble about the weapon. He swears he'd never sell stolen goods, and asks me to talk to Snag for him.
Asking around, most of the folks on the Skadowsk seem to have the same opinion as Nimble, and think highly of him.
Snag, it seems, doesn't, as he has removed himself from the scene. Sucker.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG2-8R7zI/AAAAAAAAAQs/ntinVdK1W_0/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_17-59-49_%28zaton%29.jpg
Sultan, somewhat hampered leader of the bandits, tells me that he has seen Snag near the docks. Amazingly helpful, isn't he?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG3-XOfyI/AAAAAAAAAQw/byavrWY-LEI/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-00-33_%28zaton%29.jpg
But before I go out to get him, I tell Kardan the sad news. He doesn't take it very well, but still better than I feared.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG4-qxj2I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/LLChjxVQF5o/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-03-45_%28zaton%29.jpg
Snag isn't there, but some other guys, dressed surprisingly like bandits. The little voice in my head tells me this is a thing that begins with T and ends with RAP.
As I approach the leader, he asks me if I am a friend of Snag's. I confirm, and he tells me that Snag has told them I would be bringing an exceptionally fine gun as loot. If this is a joke, I am amused, good job. If this isn't, oh boy, than I can SHOW you the weapon. And with SHOW, I mean shoot you dead for trying such a cheap thing on me. He chooses the second option by threatening me.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG5Wx9WcI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/g2qUlkbzDNQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-24-03_%28zaton%29.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG5-BHK8I/AAAAAAAAARA/WqTexJ-ptXw/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-24-43_%28zaton%29.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG6QWdcxI/AAAAAAAAARE/16IoauLK-dE/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-26-06_%28zaton%29.jpg
You're not threatening me. I was giving you opportunity to be smart. Pity.
Let's see. The PDA says that they too looked for Snag, but he wasn't there. Snag, you little rat, you've sold me out. Oh, Snag, that's not how we do things around here.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG7BkpIRI/AAAAAAAAARI/NlSmSltWmFM/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-27-54_%28zaton%29.jpg
Sultan chooses not to asnwer to this all. You're no big figure here anymore, you sad man.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG732I49I/AAAAAAAAARM/LwZir_aRT4I/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-28-57_%28zaton%29.jpg
After selling this PDA to Uhu, he warms up a bit and compliments me on my ability to bring him info. I aim to please, though I can really go without your friendship. But he offers me to sell his goods for a little less. That must be hard for him.
The Achievement is called Information Trader, and means that Uhu will charge me less for his goods.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG8vVgZzI/AAAAAAAAARQ/oYQUuJnsygg/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-37-44_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Hey hey.... I know this face. It's you, Snag. But he claims he doesn't have anything to do with Sultan. Hmm...
This is one part that really baffles me. He just says he didn't do nothing, and you have no choice but to believe him.
I'll sleep that over.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG9Awa2FI/AAAAAAAAARU/M2fxh1rEtfU/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-41-29_%28jupiter%29.jpg
Look at that! Damn! Somebody had his dirty hands on MY stash. And I bet I don't have the faintest idea of who it is. Only that this loser Snag has choosen to relocate again.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG9-pDDsI/AAAAAAAAARY/ep6KuY2BJnc/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-41-40_%28jupiter%29.jpg
But let's ask around.
The factions each tell me that THEY would never do such a thing, although the Duty members are quick to suggest that those "anarchos" of Freedom are very likely to do such a thing. Go clean up your own mess, folks.
But Doctor says he had seen a lone figure making his way northeast, name of Snack or Snob or somesuch. Who's surprised?
Zulu, in his tower, tells me that two figure met beneath his tower, and had a fight, but he drove them off with a few shots from his gun. ("Get off my lawn, kids!" Hihihi) I should look at the train station for them.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zG_f0bNPI/AAAAAAAAARc/gSrCnKd5Ylk/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-45-20_%28jupiter%29.jpg
There he is! And there's his mate. Looks like the bandits finaly caught him. The bandit chooses to annoy the Dagtyarev, and the Dagtyarev chooses to SMASH him.
Now, let's take care of you, my little friend. You're in a sort of situation, aren't you?
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zHAn8FX4I/AAAAAAAAARk/5ks4kXjjwjQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-46-33_%28jupiter%29.jpg
That's an ugly thing to happen to a kneecap.
But consider yourself lucky. I'm no man to let another man bleed to death, or to wait until the dogs find you. I'm just very fond of telling you that I COULD. And amybe kick you around a bit. But after he told me where he had hidden my things, I let him go. I hope he gets eaten or something. I'm just too weak...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S5zHBIEjeaI/AAAAAAAAARo/UgYEAZNilHg/s800/ss_kilian_03-13-10_18-47-11_%28jupiter%29.jpg
A few trips between here and Janow, and all my stuff is where it belongs. That'll be the last time somebody puts hand on my things.


By the way, you now must give me a nickname. You are nothing until you don't have a nickname, not in the Zone. Choose one based on what you consider Dagtyarev's most important achievements, how you think he is viewed in the Zone, and what you think fits his personality.

[GolemsVoice]

Tunnel of Hate

So, with everything done, it is about time to get to the bottom of this pile of mysteries. Pripyat, here I come!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Df5DoER7I/AAAAAAAAAlg/XkGiQUz534U/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-49-40_%28jupiter%29.jpg
One last talk with Zulu, and off we go.
Shame you can't make screenshots during cutscenes, it had some really nice views of the team.
The first thing we notice when the elevator hits the bottom is that it won't go up again. Uh-oh. But we haven't come here to get out on THIS end.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Df6S83p-I/AAAAAAAAAlk/ii_KJwmbEH8/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-52-34_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Df7tzRFtI/AAAAAAAAAlo/SlKa8KFCREw/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-54-50_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
The tunnel is remarkably quiet, safe for the occasional screeching of metal that is a bit too old. I'll bet that silence will soon change.

And it did. A few Hamsters and a band of Snorks try to stop us, but we make quick work of them. (Indeed, my team is fairly competent as far as video-game AI goes, though you mus assume a fair amount of reloads, since I try to get all my men out of here alive.)

The first metal door presents itself. This must be the one that separates this part from the one that is flooded with poisonous gas. I hope the power holds.
[IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Df9dLj44I/AAAAAAAAAl0/5PdHTX9vlhs/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-56-33_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Again, a gang of Snorks try to come out from under the opening door, but they just run into our heavy fire.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Df--kvhOI/AAAAAAAAAl4/-aNeuqgfPQE/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-57-00_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Looks like there even are anomalies down there. But with my team of experienced Stalkers, this shouldn't be a problem. (Again, it really isn't. These guys know their way around an anomaly.)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Df_yUCRJI/AAAAAAAAAl8/-sKfEWIuOUk/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-58-13_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
This won't do. Looks like we'll have to get around there.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgA1Gw8kI/AAAAAAAAAmA/PnbOsQKpPmQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_17-58-31_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Luckily, the small door at the side is still intact. A bunch of Hamsters greet us (vicious little creatures!), ang I greet them with a grenade. No problem.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgCHKF7SI/AAAAAAAAAmE/rUWl8gOG5Ko/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-00-43_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpgIMG]
Little sucker. Thougt to surprise us? Think again!
[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgEO9FMnI/AAAAAAAAAmM/up3vWIdKol4/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-07-21_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Again with the Snorks. This was the toughest fight so far, and I almost lost Zulu and Strider. Good thing I brought plenty of medical supplies.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgE6nH8NI/AAAAAAAAAmU/A3G4jLmhrQg/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-07-29_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Even down here, secret stashes await the adventurous Stalker!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgF4VJSRI/AAAAAAAAAmY/pUNwAI-c7dk/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-07-52_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
If my plans are correct, this should be the last door.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgGsNuaCI/AAAAAAAAAmc/99k8_nXDrNg/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-08-34_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Oh wow! Look at this! A giant dome that served as the train depot. Amazing! I wonder how this place looked when it was still used. It has a strange aura now. Ghostly. But the same could be said for all of the Zone, couldn't it?
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgHdlhkuI/AAAAAAAAAmg/0V3XJQVLIfI/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-08-37_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Another control tower. I bet this will be useful.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgHxqXeHI/AAAAAAAAAmk/FqkU6cl8Ucc/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-08-45_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
More target practice. But otherwise, this giant dome is deserted. Ideal place for an ambush, though.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgIimOzfI/AAAAAAAAAmo/8jDCdNTXrC4/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-09-33_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Let's look inside!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgJxrXItI/AAAAAAAAAms/yKTVhll-_8A/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-09-54_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Another chest, filled with munition and vodka.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgKzBA4gI/AAAAAAAAAmw/nqxyqkyUqz4/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-11-07_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
One of my team members really, like REALLY hated this Hamster, and contuinued to fill his corpse with shells, not even stopping when I came between him and the object of his hatred. The continuing shotgun blasts filled the dome.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgM2uZSRI/AAAAAAAAAm4/7s5UAdQKG5A/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-12-37_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
At last a glimpse of the sky. Although it is not very inviting.
Before going on, I'll search this place.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgNhgbZ1I/AAAAAAAAAm8/5FnqwEw1KyA/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-13-14_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgOr5RFOI/AAAAAAAAAnA/ZSec499dYGU/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-13-24_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Hmm, here's nothing.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgPk4pptI/AAAAAAAAAnE/XDEe4OHdDqo/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-14-00_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
A-ha! But unfortunately, it lacks a power supply.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgQi-LAnI/AAAAAAAAAnI/ivswRglxJHk/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-15-21_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
This looks like it!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgRXh_lbI/AAAAAAAAAnM/rIfimK4kq74/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-22-28_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Hardly a second passed after pressing the lever, and the hall fills with footsteps. Uh-oh.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgSHythRI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/tx1WaV7wEZ8/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-23-35_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Monolither! I thought they were all wiped out when the whole mess at the Chernobyl NPP happened. Far from it, I see now.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgTce4qTI/AAAAAAAAAnY/T5uoozAGwbE/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-25-32_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
With the power activated, I have now access to the control tower.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgUv0007I/AAAAAAAAAnc/u2yCg8MJh5I/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-25-45_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Grabbing a few supplies.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgVi5u5RI/AAAAAAAAAng/LPNkgfZHaac/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-26-35_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
Again, Monolither try to stop us from reaching the now opened door, this time sniping from the ledges all across the dome. But my team awaits them.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgWIEnvDI/AAAAAAAAAnk/mwLZoyhWkdE/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-26-54_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
After they have been dealt with, nothing stops me from getting out of here.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgY-FRx5I/AAAAAAAAAnw/RTBRigDfgmk/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-35-03_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgZaqJ99I/AAAAAAAAAn0/VBCB_SDS3jM/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-35-22_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
But what I thought was the way to the surface instead opens to a network of sewers. I wondered when i would encounter Zombies, they have taken long enough. They are far easier enemies than the Monolithers, thoughhttp://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgaaxmizI/AAAAAAAAAn4/C_x3jMPlcOo/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-36-54_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg.
Onwards! The exit can't be far!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgbRiS51I/AAAAAAAAAn8/y05TY-QU4-Q/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-40-11_%28jupiter_underground%29.jpg
And here, finally, it is. Let's get out of here. Have I mentioned that I am not very fond of being underground?
Now comes and extended cutscene. Our wayward team exits the sewers, and is found by a military patrol. Time to reveal our true identity!
I fear there is no other way than to reveal who I really am. After presenting my badge, the situation becomes much less tense. I'm just glad they didn't shoot Strider on the spot, since I learn that the Monolithers are frightfully alive and active, while the military barely holds out. All my teammates agree to go with me to the military "headquarter", only Zulu doesn't want any business with the military. I'm sorry that I used them, but they don't seem to mind. Tough folk.


EDIT: Fixed the images

[GolemsVoice]

So here I am, in an abandoned Laundromat-turned-Military headquarter. Major Kowalski tells me of how the various helicopters downed, and how the survivors managed to regroup and find shelter here in Pripyat, some even lead by a mysterious Stalker named Guide. They believe they have been shot down by the Monolithers, because they have an unknown weapon of immense power.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgcRFV-hI/AAAAAAAAAoA/eMhc-kRN7M4/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-50-46_%28pripyat%29.jpg
The Major also sends me to take part in an ambush on a Monolither patrol with these guys here.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgdUJVxII/AAAAAAAAAoE/BisGEzBWYEU/s800/ss_kilian_03-15-10_18-52-04_%28pripyat%29.jpg
So we head out into the night to ambush Monolithers, for a change. Because so far the Military has taken heeavy blows. These gas-masked zealots are entrenched in Pripyat like no one else.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgeQyW6YI/AAAAAAAAAoI/tW-qkPA9qI0/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-09-05_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I find myself a nice, lofty perk and ready my trusty rifle to show those freaks what's what.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgfNsLyeI/AAAAAAAAAoM/9P2bO2B4ijU/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-10-16_%28pripyat%29.jpg
And we have a winner! With the three men dead, it's time to investigate their corpses.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgg9NPX5I/AAAAAAAAAoU/MDoSxe0CeHs/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-14-34_%28pripyat%29.jpg
When suddenly all hell brakes loose as the other side of the building errupts into gunfire. Damn! They have been waiting for us! They are crazy enough to sacrifice their own friggin' men! Only a mad dash across the courtyard saves me from becoming the next military casualty.
Payback time.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DghwLW8xI/AAAAAAAAAoY/A4kbcYmrW8Q/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-15-45_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgiU-HYCI/AAAAAAAAAoc/RPAqMQQgvDs/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-16-15_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgjy-quPI/AAAAAAAAAok/L0E4gElr-9w/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-28-14_%28pripyat%29.jpg
There's also some sonore preaching, somebody talking about how the brave dead are now one with the Monolith, and how we thank the Monolith for warning us of the plans of his enemy, and so on. That's got to stop. Also, somebody is shooting the most powerful gun I've ever seen. A high-pitched noise, adn then a bolt of blue light tears through the darkness, and THEN, you can only pray you did NOT stand anywhere in the way of the bolt, for there is little that stops it. I bet the preaching and the shooting are somehow linked.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgkc9xBCI/AAAAAAAAAoo/12lb6By2uog/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-28-29_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Two shots from my lovely Vintar make short work of that mad sniper/preacher. I hope he dropped his weapon where I can access it!
But first it's time to finish his flock.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgk45FsOI/AAAAAAAAAos/tjj4-HZeyD4/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-37-08_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Bang!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DglTltyeI/AAAAAAAAAow/QbKoEeF6Pkw/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-37-55_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Bang!
There he is.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgmT6b8OI/AAAAAAAAAo0/B5bIv3s11Z8/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_13-40-07_%28pripyat%29.jpg
And there's the weapon. Looks strange, and pretty high-tech.
So, being the only survivor of this hellish night, I make my way back to the headquarters, to find that Gari has also got here. Very good.
Because Gari can lead me to Kardan, who is the man to talk to when you want to know anything about high-tech weaponry.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgp_HPl8I/AAAAAAAAApA/I_Aoqx0w0k8/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-00-02_%28zaton%29.jpg
And I'm in luck! Kardan not only recognizes the weapon, he even tells me he worked on it back when the Zone was not yet there. He hands me a keycard to the lab he was stationed in, and tells me to search it for documents from back in the days. Oh great, another laboratory.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgqgT-uDI/AAAAAAAAApI/3NMmiWR6neg/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-09-48_%28zaton%29.jpg
The well.known heavy door opens without complaint to the keaycard, and I enter the old, dusty, moldy lab.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgrg9ntoI/AAAAAAAAApM/FfneQpBgdsA/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-10-13_%28zaton%29.jpg
Anybody home, I want to ask, before a distant growl echoes through the building. Why can't these things be SIMPLE?
Speaking of simple. No underground complex is complete without Zombies. Here they come.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgsNfkrtI/AAAAAAAAApQ/dBBmwVmFUt0/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-10-18_%28zaton%29.jpg
Trying to ignore the constant deep breathing and growling, I make my way deeper into the complex, always gripping my weapon tightly.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgt5JLiUI/AAAAAAAAApY/2dNuDDyZsP8/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-12-29_%28zaton%29.jpg
This looks like our weapon here somwhere, no?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dguy7WvFI/AAAAAAAAApc/2KKp5nfSJJI/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-12-40_%28zaton%29.jpg
I thought I just mention the huge gaping holes in solid friggin' steel!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgvVAWJpI/AAAAAAAAApg/b6rfnNDhLsA/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-13-06_%28zaton%29.jpg
Oh god! What's that! Damn, what IS that?
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgwcVxcJI/AAAAAAAAApk/eY2M6wRMlSk/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-15-08_%28zaton%29.jpg
Whatever it is, it sure took a lot of bullets. And I mean a LOT.
Seriously, that's all I can say here. By just running away and riddling it with bullets I was able to come away nearly unharmed. But it took half a dozen magazines at least. And it wasn't hard to hit.
That being done, time to get to the source of those holes.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dgyk_yF_I/AAAAAAAAAp0/uT_esP1hF9c/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-15-58_%28zaton%29.jpg
Behind there, somewhere. But how to get there?
A-ha! Through this ventilation duct here. Just like in thos video games.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6DgzgCcaUI/AAAAAAAAAp4/Gn32D6JDmVY/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-16-28_%28zaton%29.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S6Dg0grxT7I/AAAAAAAAAp8/umo48lxI_l8/s800/ss_kilian_03-16-10_14-16-37_%28zaton%29.jpg
Won't you look at that! That's our weapon alright, only a few sizes bigger.
I grab the documents lying around, and head back to Kardan. Let's see what he can make from them.

[Asheram]

Addicted to Stalking

By the way, you now must give me a nickname. You are nothing until you don't have a nickname, not in the Zone. Choose one based on what you consider Dagtyarev's most important achievements, how you think he is viewed in the Zone, and what you think fits his personality.

How about Rum-runner, due to the impressive amount of vodka you pick up in the game?

[GolemsVoice]

That's a start, but I think consuming excessive amounts of Vodka is hardly reserved for our hero alone.

[Arcanoi]

Could name him Red, or Porcupine. Buzzard might also be good.

[GolemsVoice]

Red is fine. True to the source, too. I'll go with Red.

With the precious data obtained, I head back to Kardan for some sweet, sweet Gauss-Gun-love. He tells me that with these new documents, he will fix the gun in no time. Good.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muLkL01pI/AAAAAAAAAq4/dpduYcWYTD4/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-42-22_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Leaving it in his care, I head back to Pripyat, to see what has become of the patrol that the military send out. Why am I sure they are dead?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muMXOTxKI/AAAAAAAAAq8/7G-XrsEFPpk/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-43-12_%28pripyat%29.jpg
And I don't want to encounter what killed them.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muNbzThfI/AAAAAAAAArA/dCuHEGzeSqI/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-43-42_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Yep, here they lie. Poor souls.
Ok, next assignment. A scout was sent to, well, scout, and he is currently stationed in an abandoned grocery store.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muOSLUFDI/AAAAAAAAArE/hygrtcu53Ns/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-47-04_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I hear shooting. Better hurry, maybe I can still save him!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muPn2HKpI/AAAAAAAAArI/8Rg7FF9Q6nI/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-47-41_%28pripyat%29.jpg
What the heck is going on here? He keeps shouting "No, no, get away.." and shoots wildly all over the place... oh.. no.
Quickly, get the Controller. Luckily, i was prepared, and moved the creep down with a salvo from my gun. But too late for the poor guard, who, in his despair, shot himself. God, what does this place DO to people....
En route to my next mission, delving the depths of lab X8, I happen by the old kindergarden. Something evil is happening here.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muQVhnDcI/AAAAAAAAArM/RUZ4AnCJKMk/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-53-37_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Here we are. Next stop, underground hell. Again.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muRX8_5SI/AAAAAAAAArQ/b8gbLFkFUpI/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-57-03_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muSAbgXFI/AAAAAAAAArU/dSDe7gW8exc/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-59-00_%28pripyat%29.jpg
But of course things aren't simple, and so this elevator lacks power. So, all the way up it is.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muTCdsHqI/AAAAAAAAArY/sXEi_LXcESc/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-59-49_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muT85lYXI/AAAAAAAAArc/qUuO5pxWbTw/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_16-59-51_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Why hello there.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muUYuZtNI/AAAAAAAAArk/HN5pZF-mc5g/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-00-11_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Zombies are like Mc Donalds. Wherever you go, you can be sure there is one.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muUxTvBLI/AAAAAAAAAro/8ZhcuusBz6E/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-01-31_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Except that their Happy Meal is BRAINS. Actually I don't really know what they eat, or if they eat at all, but I'm sure that at least some of them are conservative in their eating habits.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muVhRO5NI/AAAAAAAAArs/EPPq8JLxmxU/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-06-20_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Oh look! Religious fanatics. The less, the better.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muWYGWr4I/AAAAAAAAArw/3GPnZwfkqzo/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-09-38_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Fighting Monolithers is tough. They are smart, and they are incredibly well equipped. Mostly. I am just happy that the Gauss gun I recovered seemed to be the only one they had.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muW2JzaLI/AAAAAAAAAr0/TuykQOM-FBw/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-12-10_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Pripyat really has the strangest anomalies.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muYcfBFiI/AAAAAAAAAr8/Bzt1qMazgec/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-16-30_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Looks like a team of scientists tried to do the same thing that I tried.
Before activating the generator, I check the rooftops for enemies, and almost get zapped. But, being the clever Stalker that I am, I whip out my generator and grab some artifacts. There's always time for making money.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muZ2nHwLI/AAAAAAAAAsE/8kc0xp9Pk9g/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-17-57_%28pripyat%29.jpg
This nets me the achievement Experienced Stalker, because I have been to almost all anomalies. Now I'll find more valuable artifacts. Good!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muas9fEnI/AAAAAAAAAsI/0umu0vEAifk/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-19-00_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Only a few more of these white-clad freaks between me and a place I really don't want to go.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mubTRjVcI/AAAAAAAAAsM/ZUHQSS3hBDo/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-19-19_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Ah! A stash!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muY4jZf5I/AAAAAAAAAsA/ZD78nlSIO3M/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-17-20_%28pripyat%29.jpg
With the flip of a switch, the generator springs to life. Down we go, down, all the way down.

Next step: The creepy hell-hole X8. Stay tuned! This will be good.

[Cristo Meyers]

Can't wait to get my hands on this game sometime. I finally nabbed S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow for $6 and I'm loving it.

Well, loving the game. The *insert chosen explicative stream here* dogs I hate with a burning passion.

[Flickerdart]

Actually, you can just ignore most Blind Dogs, as they rarely attack you unprovoked. Pseudodogs are absolutely vicious though.

[GolemsVoice]

God, the dogs. Well, most normal dogs tend to run away, which is a good thing, though, if you are like me, you'll be out for their blood and hunting them with the knife, but pseudodogs, god, they never stop being annyoing. But I think the only mutant who I didn't find annyoing in some way was the Zombie.

[Cristo Meyers]

Actually, you can just ignore most Blind Dogs, as they rarely attack you unprovoked. Pseudodogs are absolutely vicious though.

Unless there's a half-dozen of them...then they'll hunt you down, yipping and constantly darting in and out of range, always circling...circling...circling...

I'd rather fight that damn Controller again than try and take on a pack of dogs.

[GolemsVoice]

Speaking of horror, here goes:


I knew I would have to venture into one of those laboratories again. I only wish it could have been a NICE laboratory, like the ones where everything is white, clean, and slightly futurisitc, the ones you see in the advertisements for toot paste. But I guess there's only utiliaristic and industrial horror around here.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mucDQiieI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/m_SCgOVxg3k/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-20-25_%28labx8%29.jpg
Look. It's red, to mark the descend into HELL. Oh well. Let's not get distracted here.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mudDnrMRI/AAAAAAAAAsY/u_QOxXoDSHs/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-21-07_%28labx8%29.jpg
It's actually just red because it was closed. But as soon as I open the door, this familiar feeling of a headache and slight nausea greets me. Along with blurred vision. Psy-power. Damn.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mueN3gm8I/AAAAAAAAAsc/creyP8eeh-M/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-22-40_%28labx8%29.jpg
These two Snorks don't stop me. But the entire laboratory is filled with growling and... agh! What? Where did THAT come from? Somebody's throwing objects at me again. Let's head on, and catch him. It.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mue5byqOI/AAAAAAAAAsg/P_o-EUxahtk/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-23-30_%28labx8%29.jpg
Suddenly, I hear a baby crying. Just like that! God, that frightened me more than any growling. It came from the men's room.
And it is surely a trap. Well, two can play at that game.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muge8loUI/AAAAAAAAAso/GODwFsy5Ihk/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-29-39_%28labx8%29.jpg
A few frenzied seconds of shooting later, that miserable creature lies at my feet.
That being done, next stop.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mufqYV3zI/AAAAAAAAAsk/5P3uVima36A/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-25-36_%28labx8%29.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muhKxyv7I/AAAAAAAAAss/6jLBjSrdeSI/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-31-17_%28labx8%29.jpg
Sadly, objects still have the tendency to lift and hurl themselves at me.This whole thing is freaking me out!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muh_jTKeI/AAAAAAAAAsw/nlANVe45gAU/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-31-30_%28labx8%29.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muimtAxzI/AAAAAAAAAs0/AB03PFPIMhM/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-33-39_%28labx8%29.jpg
O-ho! Don't we all know this structure? It must be here where the brain scorcher was planned. We're right in the middle of something. Probably a horror movie.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mujE-2a4I/AAAAAAAAAs4/tMvy6Fa5TaE/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-34-54_%28labx8%29.jpg
At last, a document. Grab it, and see where the others are.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mukKIKvRI/AAAAAAAAAs8/nlvV5O18lIQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-36-57_%28labx8%29.jpg
The whole complex is making me dizzy. Where to go? This is one giant deathtrap.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muknOWvbI/AAAAAAAAAtE/COZViy0giLE/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-37-40_%28labx8%29.jpg
Another document. It seems that psychic research was the main purpose of X8. This document says that they managed to psychically contact somebody on the other side of the world. Wow!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mulaeAVoI/AAAAAAAAAtI/Fd_IdPxOJGQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-38-26_%28labx8%29.jpg
The pit of Hamsters. It's like shooting rats in a barrel.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mumDaHVeI/AAAAAAAAAtM/I4UDjpe3_bY/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-42-15_%28labx8%29.jpg
I think this is the way to go. Down, ever down. I hope I find those Buers. Before they find me.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mum6JrwtI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/cr0Mt1WKLtQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-42-49_%28labx8%29.jpg
This is a bingo.
What follows now is a collection of various attempts, of which there have been many. This room, as I later learned, contained no less than THREE Buers, and it was nearly impossible to get clear shots at them.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mun84qiKI/AAAAAAAAAtU/eBzOJ2njYSo/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-45-16_%28labx8%29.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muo9cjOuI/AAAAAAAAAtY/ELTIL2syLQA/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_17-58-09_%28labx8%29.jpg
After countless agonizing minutes of mutant hunting, I finally slay the last of these freaks. If only I had managed to get a few clear shots! But they throw grenades aside with their telekinesis, and the room is filled with heavy objects. Objects that would kill me if they only hit me once.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muqLa5PaI/AAAAAAAAAtc/kWuteQJ3d98/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_18-18-00_%28labx8%29.jpg
But this is not the end. One document is still missing. That means I have to search this ENTIRE GODDAMN FACILITY AGAIN. This lab manages to drive a man crazy just by exisiting, and being so needlessly complicated.
Seriously, the map was almost useless, so you had to crawl in every hole. The final document was behind a closed door. Only that I don't even bother trying most doors, because 99% of them aren't even usable. Though I could have figured this out earlier, it still annoyed me.
Finally, I found the door I had missed. Now, down there, grab the document, and let's get out of here.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muq2P2InI/AAAAAAAAAtg/oOTWxvGhM0A/s800/ss_kilian_03-17-10_18-19-22_%28labx8%29.jpg
Partner, a piece of advice from a professional. If you hide behind doors, don't make so much noise.

With the lab plundered and everyone but me dead, I finally return to see the light of day. Or what passes as light of day around here. Somehow it never really gets as sunny as back in Zaton. Only this sick, yellowish light. But it's better than the cold lamplight down there.


Next time: Monolithers and Antennas, Zombies and Anomalies, Soldiers and Stalkers, war and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Thrills and Chills, you won't imagine. WARNING: May contain Gauss.

[Cristo Meyers]

Bloody snorks...*shudder*

I never did figure out a way to stop whatever it was from constantly chucking barrels at my head in the lab...

[GolemsVoice]

What lab? Was it the first STALKER? There's really no shortage of underground labs in that game.

[Cristo Meyers]

What lab? Was it the first STALKER? There's really no shortage of underground labs in that game.

Yeah, first underground lab in the first STALKER. The one in the Dark Valley.

Haven't gotten around to getting Call yet, mostly since I've only started working again a week ago...

[GolemsVoice]

The problem with the thing chugging barrels at your head in the first Stalker is, as far as I remember, that it
can only be dfeated with grenades, and only if you know what it is, because nobody tells you anything.

[GolemsVoice]

Life ain't nothing but mutants and radiation, yo.


So, having crawled out of the lab, it is now my duty to strike against those Monolithers. That's more my kind of thing, these freaks have been given free reign for too long. Scouts have reported an outpost, inside a local bookstore.

When I arrive there, Lt. Solotov and Wano greet me, which certianly is a pleasant surprise!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7murw12AOI/AAAAAAAAAtk/7JkKMDixa8U/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-37-13_%28pripyat%29.jpg
On the count of three, we storm the bookshop.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muuUszrCI/AAAAAAAAAtw/7O_WQpVkzKc/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-50-56_%28pripyat%29.jpg
The Monolithers open fire, but we finish them off quickly, cleaning out the front.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mutnrdT5I/AAAAAAAAAts/FuxkNA1oI6g/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-48-17_%28pripyat%29.jpg
But the real fun starts when we encounter that thing. After a bit more resistance, I enter a chamber containg this... heap of rubbish and metal. Three Monolithers can be seen in a kind of praying position around it, apparently listening closely to the voice filling the room.
We put them out of their misery. Then it strikes me! This was their try at an Antenna! Sure, one scary whispering thing is destroyed, let's just find another to listen to. They seem to think that the Monolith speaks to them via the Radio.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muvHTzuAI/AAAAAAAAAt0/Hcc5UPb6feQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-53-25_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Having driven the Monolithers out of the store, I try to investigate Pripyat some more.
And I'm in luck!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muwHyWEaI/AAAAAAAAAt4/vF46va2-dHQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-54-02_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Tools for calibrating, finally.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muw1lzfJI/AAAAAAAAAt8/jdnKVc1q19s/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-54-23_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Let's just get out of here alive.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7muyKk4MoI/AAAAAAAAAuA/lPbwEn0cs5A/s800/ss_kilian_03-18-10_22-55-51_%28pripyat%29.jpg
There's a network of underground tunnels, like the one I just came out of. No wonder the Monolithers can strike with impunity. This place is a military nightmare! And a regular nightmare, too, I guess.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu0PgBMGI/AAAAAAAAAuI/UJKlqoQtprM/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-29-43_%28zaton%29.jpg
Let's give Kardan one more gift. He really shaped up, the other Stalkers tell me he stopped drinking (almost) completely. Nice to know I'm making some changes round here.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu1MN8PvI/AAAAAAAAAuM/30T1Tz2nPMo/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-30-26_%28zaton%29.jpg
Kardan now has all the tools he needs, and his specialty is Exoskeletons. He can now install a special hydraulic motor into an exoskeleton, enabling me to sprint.
(The achievement is called Weapon Systems Expert, and there would have been a different one if I gave the tools to Nitro)
With this in mind, and looking at my pockets filled with cash, I think I'll just buy one of these.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu2XHbsHI/AAAAAAAAAuU/J3GdRBCFvCo/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-33-02_%28zaton%29.jpg
They sure aren't cheap, but short of somebody running you over with a tank, they'll protect you from almost anything. I'm also Ironman's poorer brother now.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu3gorDvI/AAAAAAAAAuY/76MSbwGxzuU/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-38-05_%28zaton%29.jpg
Time for kardan to give ME presents. With the new data from Lab X8, Kardan is finally able to present the Gauss Rifle to me. One shot is all you have, but one shot is also all you need. The bullets strikes EXACTLY where you point the scope. How you like that, Monolithers?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu4Iv0L-I/AAAAAAAAAuc/nP-6vHDgB3g/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-48-14_%28pripyat%29.jpg
God, I feel good holding this thing. Exoskeletton, Gauss Rifle. Oh yeah.
But I think I'll switch to more conventional weaponry, each 10-shot battery costs 2000 rubels!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu4mT0nqI/AAAAAAAAAug/zXdOesDyn8c/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-48-54_%28pripyat%29.jpg
That's intriguin.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu5E15khI/AAAAAAAAAuk/OBM9t0BohCk/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-50-37_%28pripyat%29.jpg
After my first lesson in exoskeletton climbing
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu5zWU5qI/AAAAAAAAAuo/jn3uJ305Zp0/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-52-44_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I reach the top of the building, but am dissapointed. The chimera down there has to suffer for it.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu6OXrVCI/AAAAAAAAAus/n-lC33rFnhQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-53-24_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Can YOU spot it?

After we get off that roof, we meet an old friend, destryo things the military way, and meet men in black cloaks.

[Archonic Energy]

I never did figure out a way to stop whatever it was from constantly chucking barrels at my head in the lab...

at the top of the lab there's a "secret" room with a polterguist in it. that's what is throwing things at you. kill it with bulets... and pick up a heavy-machine-gun... :smallamused:

[GolemsVoice]

After this fascinating episode on the roof it's time to get down again.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu64EBpPI/AAAAAAAAAuw/JlUrPK3lAxY/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-54-35_%28pripyat%29.jpg
The soldiers have tracked down the source of the radio messages that the Monolither's makeshift antenna received. They have sent a team to blow it up, and.. hey! Concrete treehouse. Rad! Literally!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu7jBWCQI/AAAAAAAAAu0/GiXZ8Yk-oiY/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-55-04_%28pripyat%29.jpg

There's the rendevouz point. Time to search the bodies.... god, I HATE this city. There's nothing but death here for... strangers. I fear that I am already native to the Zone.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu88BQFVI/AAAAAAAAAu8/B5vECUbz0eQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-56-41_%28pripyat%29.jpg
There they lie allright.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu9q_CFII/AAAAAAAAAvA/LRbiscfcuDo/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-57-12_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I take the explosives from the dead.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu-pbqcfI/AAAAAAAAAvI/l3R4KlP-y50/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-57-19_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Actually, I'd rather go exploring Pripyat some more. That kindergarten (guess where the signal came from?) gives me the creeps.
Let's visit the NEXT level. The school of Pripyat.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu_OW9LkI/AAAAAAAAAvM/kffSt5l8xN8/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_10-59-06_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I wonder what kind of anomaly that in the distance is. It surely looks bizarre.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mu_6eJi_I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/ZL6NQ2NMfiE/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-00-11_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Through the abandoned kitchen on the courtyard, my scanne is picking of a friendly person here.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvBWxD0bI/AAAAAAAAAvY/O_u8ZT3JlHU/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-02-30_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvAQr6wcI/AAAAAAAAAvU/ujHS5MChsKg/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-01-49_%28pripyat%29.jpg
These are certainly not my friends, but unlike friends, they are numerous here. I was about to turn and flee, I admit it, when I heard the familiar sound of Zulu's heavy machine gun. Nice. A quick talk shows Zulu that the military is no danger, and he agrees to return to the base. Finally an addition, instead of all the losses.
One last building caught my eye on the map.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvCdHQGCI/AAAAAAAAAvc/7wEdLnpSk8U/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-09-49_%28pripyat%29.jpg
This here.
It greets me by flinging a dead dog out of the window of the upper floor and scaring me half to dead. This doesn't bode well.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvD3tevRI/AAAAAAAAAvk/o42SXJXWhoQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-11-16_%28pripyat%29.jpg
It is also filled with electrical anomalies that nearly roast me when I make an unfortunate move.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvEWgNpYI/AAAAAAAAAvo/U0Lz5TL6yVo/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-18-53_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Something has to be in here. I'm going to hunt it.
It turns out that it was a Burer. Words can't describe how much I hate those. Luckily, bullets do the job quite well.

This one misses a few screenshots, I'm afraid, I often forget to make some in the thick of the action.

[Cristo Meyers]

Ahh...I love that assault rifle, got me through a number of scrapes.

Finished SOC a few days back. That was...intense.

[GolemsVoice]

Did you get the real ending or the Monolith endings?
Because a bug caused the main quest to reset after I found Strelok's stash, and I continued with the side missions, thinking it was teh real plot. The endings are quite cool even then, but they feel lacking.

[Cristo Meyers]

Did you get the real ending or the Monolith endings?
Because a bug caused the main quest to reset after I found Strelok's stash, and I continued with the side missions, thinking it was teh real plot. The endings are quite cool even then, but they feel lacking.

I got the real ending, shooting my way through many, many Monolithers and all.

Think I died about a dozen times, easy.

[Fri]

I know lp-ers live by eating comments, so I'm just here saying that I've just started reading this. dunno why not start sooner. I've kept hearing about this game, but also about its so called 'realistic hard' and 'goddamn full of bugs' so never dared to try it. looks awesome, actually.

[Archonic Energy]

I know lp-ers live by eating comments, so I'm just here saying that I've just started reading this. dunno why not start sooner. I've kept hearing about this game, but also about its so called 'realistic OH MY GOD SOMETHING IS EATING MY BRAINS AND AND THE AIR AROUND ME IS BEING COMPACTED ENOUGH TO PEIRCE MY ARMOUR hard' and 'goddamn full of bugs' so never dared to try it. looks awesome, actually.

Fixed that for you...
Patch it up, and away you go. the bugs aren't that bad, it's the BUGS you should worry about!
:smalltongue:

[GolemsVoice]

I know lp-ers live by eating comments, so I'm just here saying that I've just started reading this. dunno why not start sooner.

First, thanks, I hope you like my LP. Second, this is the third part of the series, which is by far the most bug-free and polished game of the three. I think it goes Call of Pripyat > Shadow of Chernobyl > Clear Sky, but there are many many fan-made mods that dig out left-out content, fix bugs, or add their own material.

Also, this LP is played on the middle difficulty, I think (or the second highest?), and is generally more merciful than the first game. You can REPARI things, oh Zone!

[Fri]

By the way, you never tell the story on who is the main character and what's he doing here? From what pieces I can gather, he's some kind of military man on a secret mission?

[GolemsVoice]

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I mentioned that somewhere.

Major Andrej "Red" Degtyarev is a member of the Ukrainian secret service that was ordered to investigate the crash of the five helicopters that were sent into the centre of the Zone after Strelok disabled the Brain Scorcher. They crashed despite being equpiied with the newest maps and anomaly detectors. And we'll soon learn why.
To that end, he was disguised as a Stalker and placed in the Zone. Really not much to tell here.

[Cristo Meyers]

I know lp-ers live by eating comments, so I'm just here saying that I've just started reading this. dunno why not start sooner. I've kept hearing about this game, but also about its so called 'realistic hard' and 'goddamn full of bugs' so never dared to try it. looks awesome, actually.

Clear Sky is the one with the bad rep on bugs. Shadow and Call are both pretty good.

The difficulty can be a bit daunting, but I honestly never felt frustrated with it, despite dying probably well over 30 times when playing only one level higher than easiest. You have to be smart: use cover, grenades, conserve ammo, and know when to run. It's definitely a challenge, but I personally always felt it was rewarding.

[GolemsVoice]

After the Burer was dealt with, another building caught my eye. First, though, I'll look through this hothouse here.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvFpD41oI/AAAAAAAAAvs/E46k2kNPSmA/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-19-54_%28pripyat%29.jpg
My dedication is rewarded when I find a few rounds of ammo and grenades behind a desk.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvGchdIBI/AAAAAAAAAv0/j2XLDFK47oY/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-20-54_%28pripyat%29.jpg
That's the building. My map identifies it as the Pripyat Harbour. I'm curious what I'll find there.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvGz_YYhI/AAAAAAAAAv4/fvhRz5YZdXw/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-21-36_%28pripyat%29.jpg
At first, it's eerily quiet, but soon, the moaning of some Zombies fills the air. Zombies are a safe bet, there are few places where Zombies don't go. I put them out of their misery.
Just as braindead, but more alive, Monolith soldiers. The OTHER safe bet in Pripyat.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvHQTzNUI/AAAAAAAAAv8/3gJTDyj1uog/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-22-10_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I put them out of their misery.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvH7DYKuI/AAAAAAAAAwA/0vgrggNUBwk/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-23-57_%28pripyat%29.jpg
He didn't even know what hit him. And because it was my Gauss-Rifle that hit him, it HIT him.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvInFwCeI/AAAAAAAAAwE/Rg9kHeGisZc/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-25-09_%28pripyat%29.jpg
A few quick shots for anyone out in the open, they didn't have much time to respond. But there must be more, my PDA says so. I'll have to hunt them down the old fashoined way, I fear.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvJfk5wOI/AAAAAAAAAwI/im-jG5yxnBk/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-27-37_%28pripyat%29.jpg
In there, my Geiger counter almost broke. For a short moment, a picture of some kind of punishment cell/device flashed through my mind, but I put it aside quikcly. Where did that COME from?
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvKFYb-ZI/AAAAAAAAAwM/Fub2nwZxxWE/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-29-02_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Some strange mumbling filled the building. Is that praying?
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvLO05KlI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/CIw2UODbFMM
/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-29-10_%28pripyat%29.jpg
This fellow kept rocking back and forth, hands before him, and mumbling something I couldn't, and didn't want to understand. even when I placed myself right before him, he didn't notice me. Either these people are even MORE crazy than the rest, or there actually is something to this Monolith mind-control.Either way, it scare the hell out of me. I kill him, and still feel dirty afterwards.
On one of the dead Monolithers, I find a PDA. It looks like it is a message from the Monolith, there's mention of "my children" and all this religious-type stuff. But it also mentions making stashes for "my children", marked with "the symbol" or somesuch. The only worthwile information.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvMNqgnOI/AAAAAAAAAwU/RWv_SqHDnow/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-30-09_%28pripyat%29.jpg
The arrow says "Versteck", meaning "Stash"

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvN-XAoVI/AAAAAAAAAwc/I4ZNVN6l4P4/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-33-08_%28pripyat%29.jpg
The stashes are well-stocked. Batteries for the gauss-Gun (10 shot per battery) and a few military medkits. Nice.

Time to finsih the last resistance.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvM7UMm_I/AAAAAAAAAwY/ILtVEqSaOuE/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-31-07_%28pripyat%29.jpg


That's it for today, we're nearing the end of the game with great steps.

[GolemsVoice]

I'm sorry I have kept you waiting for so long, I hope there are still people left waiting. My real-life job is sucking my time, it is.

Anyway, here comes the next part:


With the little harbour cleared of all resistance, it's time to continue my exploration of this strange city.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvOhx422I/AAAAAAAAAwg/_OCnN1q0xmU/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-33-56_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Look at this! Were this any other big city, you might think it was a work of art from some of these modern-art types. Maybe I should wrap in in plastic?
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvPvpviLI/AAAAAAAAAwk/QCUU7ljqx7o/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-36-14_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Nah, better not. I might get burned. Or fall to my death, because I'm going to see if there's anything on top! Just like in my childhood. If my childhood had been a radioactive hell full of mutants. SO, not THIS different.
Sadly, the big ball of acid blocks my path, and he knows what he's doing.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvQOyn7PI/AAAAAAAAAwo/WLt54a31ICs/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-39-03_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Prometheus Cinema? Sounds interesting.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvQ4EVE9I/AAAAAAAAAws/z1N-282fiks/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-39-49_%28pripyat%29.jpg
So far, so quiet. But I hear a fire burning, and some people talking.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvRd8qK1I/AAAAAAAAAww/6rden_PhJXI/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-39-58_%28pripyat%29.jpg
It's Monolith again. No time to waste. They'll have to die. Consider this a repayment for my dead comrades.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvSJu0nCI/AAAAAAAAAw0/8gOtH7fdXWU/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-40-34_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Movie's over. Get out of your seats.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvS1-bpwI/AAAAAAAAAw4/NRd1fMxtMGs/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-42-30_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I've never been the type for classical music. The Monolithers aren't, too, since this room is empty. Or, rather, they weren't.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvTT8owBI/AAAAAAAAAw8/lrIHYGo53qE/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-44-51_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Like every good little tourist, here's something for mum at home.

Only few sites that I haven't explored. This is one of them.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvUHxKaJI/AAAAAAAAAxA/XgTOtp-M304/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-48-56_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Goddamn Burers. I HATE them. HATE hate them.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvUgOxtsI/AAAAAAAAAxE/khcVflNTkqw/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-50-16_%28pripyat%29.jpg
The feeling is mutual, however, so no problem here. No problem that a high-powered gun doesn't solve.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvVZQdQDI/AAAAAAAAAxI/4T8EI8kcI1o/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-51-21_%28pripyat%29.jpg
He was even guarding something! Calibration tools. Now I can make both Nitro AND Kardan happy!
On my way to the Kindergarden, I come across two Zombies. The spooky thing here is that they sat around a campfire, just liek real Stalkers.
http://picasaweb.google.com/117040979945404549548/StalkerCoP#5456585218828232450
http://picasaweb.google.com/117040979945404549548/StalkerCoP#5456585235564369314
Another fascinating thing is that Zombies seem to pick up weapons, so that this ex-private posessed quite the arsenal.

I guess there's no way around this, I have to enter the Kindergarden. Already I can feel my head aching, and my vision blurring. Better take some of these Psy-blockers I hoarded. Ah, slightly better.
My sensors 8and my achign head) tell me that somethign IS inside here. Only what?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvZBXAsoI/AAAAAAAAAxc/6QsEDBRWZtE/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-57-06_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvZh7nBfI/AAAAAAAAAxg/wpnjqWYJ8yI/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-57-16_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Looks like I haven't been the first here.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvahAD4_I/AAAAAAAAAxk/jlZNjQTY1VM/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-57-39_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvbalgg6I/AAAAAAAAAxo/xFsH2ekpWEs/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-58-17_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Must have been beautiful once. Better take some more blockers. Ahhh.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvcTQwBzI/AAAAAAAAAxs/PstJJkvD2fw/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-58-41_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Oh yeah,. another work of modern art. Or Monolith madness. Where's the difference? I'll blow it up. What ARE these antennas, exactly?
Wait, it there somebody knocking?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvdduH2RI/AAAAAAAAAxw/g99HY2r4PH4/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_11-59-17_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Yes, that's the source of the mysterious signal.
Imagine! In one of the closets in teh kitchen downstairs, I find a SOLDIER. At first I wanted to shoot him, since I couldn't believe that he was still alive, but he quickly spoke to me, and told me that he hid inside here from Zombies. Lucky bastard. This must have been hell for him, with that Poltergiest outside, that I killed earlier. I guide him back to our camp.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mveDkvwXI/AAAAAAAAAx0/7mDK-LS-FX8/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-00-47_%28pripyat%29.jpg

The next part is going to be the last, and I hope you'll stay tuned!

[Archonic Energy]

of course i'll be here..

i need to find out how it ends.

[SurlySeraph]

Standing by for awesome.

[GolemsVoice]

Aaaand her it comes! The grand finale of our long tour through the Zone!

Back at the Headquarter, Zulu hands me his extra-heavy machine-gun. Much as I love it Look at the damage!, and as much as I appreciate the gesture, I'm doing fine with my current gun. (by the way, can any of you gun-nuts confirm if the use the licensed names this time? It seemed to me like they did)
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mve-1KqxI/AAAAAAAAAx4/uPI7KijTHnc/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-03-46_%28pripyat%29.jpg

Our conversation is cut short when the radio operator tells me that there was another strange radio contact. Again, I#m sent to investigate this. I hope it has nothing to do with Monolith for once.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvgPeD56I/AAAAAAAAAyA/QOR1agVBQIc/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-05-08_%28pripyat%29.jpg
So, here should it be...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvhcDxplI/AAAAAAAAAyE/OiWbm0A3Ixg/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-06-44_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I search the area thoroughly, (good place for an ambush!), but find nothing.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mviVo4dpI/AAAAAAAAAyI/X0H6yFHAMaA/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-07-01_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Because I get told the signal has moved. Moved? Strange....
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvjCefMpI/AAAAAAAAAyM/6c2uQAZmpwA/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-07-28_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Up here somewhere? Nope, moved again. How can anyone get up and down from here without me noticing it?
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvkM1nnjI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/JkKiThkMCRc/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-07-36_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Ah, well, these are outsider questions, not Zone questions.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvlOIxz2I/AAAAAAAAAyU/XEbsgCCK9Lw/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-08-03_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Finally, I receive a message telling me to get back to the headquarter.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvl8JJuAI/AAAAAAAAAyY/-lHXCyyolQQ/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-08-35_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Alright.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvnMnZjDI/AAAAAAAAAyc/FBlcg1e5BNc/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-11-22_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Guess who's the source of the signal! Strelok!
Of all people who I expected, it's Strelok! We've got to talk... but just looking at the man gives me the creeps. He looks... tired. More than tired. Like... hard to describe... broken? Empty? Probably too harsh. Still, there's an uncomfortable air around him.
Strelok and I talk for a while, and he tells me that Guide, another of those legendary Stalker, let him here. He wants to cooperate with the Military,and I suppose he wants to get the hell out of here, and reckons the Military's got the best chances. But before he can delve deeper into his past, we are cut short by the alarm warning us from a Blowout. Major Kowalski tells us that after the Blowout is finished, we'll head out. Choppers are on their way.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvn1GXmXI/AAAAAAAAAyk/98rXKVs7F4k/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-13-25_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Sitting here is tense, tense as always. Of course, nobody speaks.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvpB1ysfI/AAAAAAAAAyo/llKb8mvGvkg/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-14-33_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Finally, we receive the message that the choppers are only a few minutes away.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvqv_7vgI/AAAAAAAAAyw/7sdKEvzMgSo/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-18-50_%28pripyat%29.jpg
This being the Zone, the next landing Zone is of course NOT in front of our little estate.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvrT5-WqI/AAAAAAAAAy0/9D7-HR6yAdk/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-19-04_%28pripyat%29.jpg
I guess the Monolith still have their heads down, so the Zone has to send other emissaries to persuade us to stay.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvsUZRDKI/AAAAAAAAAy4/-61POHDFIB4/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-21-28_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Our flight is frantic. We know that the helicopters really donÄt like to wait, and theres a big chance that the Freaks will arrive there before we do, and nobody wants this.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvsUZRDKI/AAAAAAAAAy4/-61POHDFIB4/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-21-28_%28pripyat%29.jpg
Shots fly through the air, as everyone dashes from cover to cover.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvtPSjpkI/AAAAAAAAAy8/Ga_0AJhldjA/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-22-50_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvt0Lw_1I/AAAAAAAAAzA/6BslKtONHFA/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-24-00_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvurxp62I/AAAAAAAAAzE/acyqc8XoMgk/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-25-12_%28pripyat%29.jpg
While I exchange backwardds shots with a band of Zombies, I think that we're actually lucky, since Zombies are little match for a military group. It's not like the Zone doesn't ahve worse in store. Still, Zombies are rare in Pripyat, and only drawn to certain locations. I can't help but shake the feeling that they are driven by some malevolent force. Makes me only get out of here more.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvvXFxF4I/AAAAAAAAAzI/3KqSyYmnB9U/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-25-24_%28pripyat%29.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvwYiMbDI/AAAAAAAAAzM/aEo0ICeCats/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-25-52_%28pripyat%29.jpg
A quick stop, counting heads. Everyone made it, so far. Good!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvxPKiNkI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/UGw---qaefY/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-26-51_%28pripyat%29.jpg
And so the Monolith found us at last. Now it's the time they eat their own pills.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c4jhpE8dbs0/S7mvyAkKmaI/AAAAAAAAAzU/Eu2UgjA-vVI/s800/ss_kilian_03-19-10_12-27-36_%28pripyat%29.jpg
One last mad dash, and I'm free.
...
..
.

.
..
...

Stil, I can't help but feel changed. Touched.... I guess noone really leaves the Zone. Not folks like us. The Military, maybe. They were outsiders. Foreign objects. But folks like us, we never really leave....


What follows is a move that lists all that happens after I leave the Zone. Sadly, I couldn't capture it, and even more sadly, there's no English version available. I'll give you the gist.
Degtyarev is promoted. He asks to keep on working for the Ukrainian secret service, as a permanent observer, inside the Zone.
The information regarding the psychic projects alarm the Military. All record of the documents and laboratories is erased from military files, and all personel is ordered to make sure noone outside the Zone ever learns of the labs.
The Military begins to develop some prototypes from the documents on the Gauss rifle, but the expensive ammunition make mass production impossible. Still, research in this direction likely continues today.
With the Bandits driven out of the Skadowsk, Beard's bar prospers and becomes a major hub for Stalkers in the Zone. The destruction of the Bloodsucker lair also helps this.
The scientists reach fundamental breakthroughs thanks to their helpers, and the Ukrainian government grants additional funds.
Gari's tales of horror from Pripyat leads to the city becoming even morefeared. Stalkers avoid it, and it becomes even more of a ghost town.
The Stalker that found the Oasis becomes a legend among the Stalker community, but Bandits make use of this by telling people they would lead them there and then robbing them.
Mercenaries remain active throughout the Zone, and little information can be gained on them.
Janow station becomes ever more popular, since many dangerous mutants have been killed, and most of the anomalies mapped out.
Zulu returns to the main Duty base and leads a band of men into the heart of the Zone.
Wano becomes the leader of a group of scientists that research anomalies.
A strange group lead by someone called Strider establishes itself in the Zone. Rumours say they are ex-Monolith. Their motives remain unknown.
Lt. Sokolow continues to fly missions into the Zone. One day he is shot down but was found. after this he leaves the Military and joins a nonmilitary flying company.
A few Stalkers have to seek shelter inside Noah's ark during a Blowout. After the Blowout, the Ark is besieged by a hord of Snorks, but proves to be well defendable.
Kardan and Nitro team up to develop a car that can be safely used inside the Zone.
Strelok delivers the information he gained to the Ukrainian secret service. This leads to the founding of an institute for the research of the Zone, which Strelok becomes head of.
Major Kowalski has to answer for the failure of Operation Fairway, but the trail fails to find him guilty. He is honorably discharged from the Military.

Seem like I have done pretty well, didn't I?



So, that's it! I could have choosen to remain inside the Zone, which I did after loading again, sicne you don't get to see the ending if you stay.

Finished at last! I hope you all liked it! Overall, it has been an immensely fun game, beautiful in it's own way, and delightfully different. I'd recommend it to you any day, and I hope that some of you will pick up a copy (if you haven't already done so) and delve into this bizarre and alien place of wonders that the Zone is, and I also hope it was at least partially because of my LP.

Thank you all for reading this, and thank you for your interst and support!

[Cristo Meyers]

Certainly brings up some questions as to what the canon ending of SOC is...

Did Strelok end the Zone, or is the Good ending just the end of the scientists, not the Zone...

[Archonic Energy]

Thank you all for reading this, and thank you for your interst and support!

No, thank you for spending the time to write this.

AE

[SurlySeraph]

Thanks! I hope you had as much fine writing this as I did reading it.

[GolemsVoice]

Oh yes, I did! Sham I didn't have the technology to make some videos, but you can't have everything, can you now?



Certainly brings up some questions as to what the canon ending of SOC is...

I think the canon ending is that Strelok ends the C-Consciouscness, causing a massive Blowout, but otherwise not really affecting the Zone. Kind of a dissapointment, I think.