This is the way it is with the Zone: if you come back with swag - it's a miracle; if you come back alive - it's a success; if the patrol bullets miss you - it's a stroke of luck. And as for anything else - that's fate.

-Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky





Location

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes place in an area called "The Zone", which is based on the real-life Zone of Alienation. It encompasses roughly 30 square kilometers and features a slice of Chernobyl extending south from Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant; geographical changes for artistic license include moving the city of Pripyat into this area (it is actually to the north-west of the power station), although the city itself is directly modeled on its real-life counterpart, albeit smaller in size.

History

After the initial Chernobyl Disaster, attempts were made to repopulate the area, primarily with scientists and military personnel. However, in 2006, almost 20 years after the first incident, a second disaster occurred, killing or mutating most of the inhabitants.

Shadow of Chernobyl begins years later, after people have begun coming to the zone in search of money, valuable artifacts and scientific information.

Mutants

In keeping with the post-nuclear decay within The Zone, extreme radiation has caused mutations among animals and plants in the area, which were not formed through the natural process of evolution. As such, creatures within The Zone are vastly different from their real-world counterparts (which include dogs, boar, crow and many others). Additionally, some areas of The Zone contain mutated humans, the majority of whom were caught in the second nuclear disaster. Several creatures which are present in the game can not be enabled without game modification.

AI of wildlife is highly developed and many realistic behaviors, such as fights over food and pack mentality, can be observed in non-scripted events. The game engine was designed so that animal behavior is calculated even if the player is in a different part of the world.

Anomalies, Artifacts and Radiation

As a result of the second Chernobyl disaster, The Zone is littered with small areas of altered physics, known as anomalies. There are several different variations, each one having a unique impact upon those who cross its path. They can be potentially deadly to the player and other NPCs, delivering electric shocks, or pulling them into the air and crushing them. Most anomalies produce visible air or light distortions and their extent can be determined by throwing bolts (of which the player carries an infinite supply) to trigger them. Some Stalkers also possesses an anomaly detector, which emits warning beeps of a varying frequency depending on their proximity to an anomaly.

Anomalies produce Artifacts, the valuable scientific curiosities that make the Zone worth exploring monetarily. As well as being traded for money, a number of Artifacts can be worn so that they they provide certain benefits and detriments (for example, increasing a Stalker's resistance to gunfire while also contaminating him with small amounts of radiation). Artifacts are found scattered throughout the Zone, often near clusters of anomalies.

Radiation caused by the nuclear incidents at Chernobyl occur in specific invisible patches throughout The Zone. Although most areas in The Zone have no radiation, areas near abandoned construction equipment that was used in the post-accident clean-up, certain military wrecked vehicles, and a variety of other locations create small to large fields of radiation, some of which cannot be passed through without the proper equipment.

Gameplay

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a non-linear, sandbox game. Players have a relatively free-reign to explore the world and also have many opportunities to interact with other characters.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is primarily an FPS (with many similarities to tactical shooters such as Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon), but features many RPG elements as well. The player does not gain additional abilities or statistics like most RPGs, but is instead allowed to use various types of equipment found that is either purchased or found throughout the game world. There are a large number of items in the game, so the player has customization choices which are constrained primarily by how much exploring they do.

The game also attempts to blend the story and character interaction which are commonly associated with RPGs. However, Unlike RPGs such as Fallout, conversation branches are extremely limited and do not significantly influence the course of the game, aside from accepting or declining missions.





S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl previously known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost, is a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.

It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the near future and causes strange changes in the area around it. The game has a non-linear storyline and features gameplay elements such as trading and two-way communication with NPCs. The game includes elements of role-playing and business simulation games.

The background and some terminology of the game ("The Zone", "Stalker") is borrowed from the popular science fiction book Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky and the 1979 film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky, which was itself loosely based on the book.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the player assumes the identity of an amnesiac "Stalker", an illegal explorer/artifact scavenger in "The Zone", named 'The Marked One'. "The Zone" is the location of an alternate reality version of the Chernobyl Power Plant after its second (fictitious) explosion, which contaminated the surrounding area with radiation and caused strange otherworldly changes in local fauna, flora and even the laws of physics. "Stalker" in its original (film) context roughly meant "explorer" or "guide", as the stalker's goal was to bring (guide) people into the Zone. On July 11th, 2007, GSC Game World announced a prequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky which would be released on 29th of August in 2008.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. stands for "Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber".





S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the stand-alone prequel for Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.[3] The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game. The X-ray graphics engine has been updated to version 1.5 and includes DirectX 10 support (later patch 1.5.06 included DirectX 10.1). Additionally, the AI received an overhaul to accommodate the new faction wars feature.

The player assumes the role of Scar, a veteran Stalker mercenary who was injured and rendered unconscious by an energy emission while guiding a group of scientists through the Zone. Scar, the lone and somehow lucky survivor, is rescued by Clear Sky, a secret and independent Zone faction dedicated to researching and understanding the Zone in order for humanity to better understand what kind of phenomena it is facing. It is not known how Scar survived, but it is noted he has suffered damage to the nervous system and now has an unusual characteristic around him. After becoming familiar with Clear Sky, a patrol at an outpost in the swamps is under attack and Lebedev requests Scar helps them out, especially as some of the men there saved Scar's life. After fighting off mutants keeping the team pinned, a second emission suddenly occurs. Scar is once again the sole survivor, recovered shortly after the emission died down. The leader of Clear Sky, Lebedev, is amazed by how Scar is still alive.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. varies from the first game in the way that there are factions within it that you can interact with, within the zone.





The events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat unfold shortly after the end of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Having discovered about the open path to the Zone center, the government decides to hold a large-scale military "Fairway" operation aimed to take the CNPP under control.

According to the operation's plan, the first military group is to conduct an air scouting of the territory to map out the detailed layouts of anomalous fields location. Thereafter, making use of the maps, the main military forces are to be dispatched.

Despite thorough preparations, the operation fails. Most of the avant-garde helicopters crash. In order to collect information on reasons behind the operation failure, Ukraine's Security Service send their agent into the Zone center.
From now on everything depends on the player.







Clear Sky: A faction which has dedicated themselves to researching the Zone. They are lightly armed, low in manpower, and isolated in the swamps. Most of their manpower comes from wandering stalkers who are found in danger or in need of help by some of the main members of Clear Sky. These stalkers, appreciating the help of Clear Sky, join the faction, and some leave after paying their debt to the Clear Sky. Scar is always aligned with them throughout the story of Clear Sky.



Loners: Rookie or free stalkers, who are not interested in other factions' goals and seek for treasure. Almost all of the other major factions get their manpower from this group, which is the largest in the zone. Those who have trained and suffered enough of Zone's dangers may be accepted by other factions. When this faction was introduced in Shadows of Chernobyl, it showed that there were stalkers who had no affiliations to other groups. Usually the most you will find are rookie camps, or small groups, but some like Bes's group in the Cordon, are looking for greater treasure by cooperating with the Army. They are regarded as the golden neutral faction of the zone.



Bandits: A large unorganized group of robbers and murderers. They capture and rob wandering stalkers and they are always hostile to almost all of the other factions. Any stalker who kills another stalker, or robs him of his belongings can be called a Bandit. They are one of the largest groups of stalkers in the Zone, trying to control the southward areas.



Duty: A group of dedicated soldiers and soldier wannabes which are under command structure of a military hierarchy. Being the most organized and fundamental group in the Zone, they are trying to prevent the Zone from spreading, and waging a "crusader" like war against mutants and other factions that have bad intentions. They also train, accomplish day and night watch duties, patrol their territory, and they also do research about the Zone, mainly about how to end it. They are allied with the scientists, and are rumored to be neutral towards the Army (but Army are hostile towards the Duty). They continuously clash with Freedom.



Freedom: Originally, the founder of this faction and the founder of the Duty's faction were friends, but later their vision for the future of the Zone greatly differed from each other, leading them and their followers to wage war against each other. While Duty restricts the Zone from the outsiders, Freedom aims for the opposite; basically Freedom wishes the outer world to be allowed freely into the Zone, also using the artifacts as they wish. They also believe in studying the zone. Freedom isn't very organized; they only have a sort of duty distribution which enables everyone to do what they are good at.



Mercenaries: An elite armed forces hired by an unknown customer, rumoured to be the grunts of the other Western European countries, which are trying to understand the happenings in the Zone. Others say this fraction is a secret Russian army group, disguised in a Western-based equipment, and trying to stop the independent research and military development. In any case, Clear Sky doesn't give enough data for us to make a certain claim, apart from being hired guns to do dirty work. The Mercenaries are far less powerful in manpower when compared to their state in Shadow of Chernobyl and can be eliminated with a single mission easily.



Monolith: A mysterious and unknown faction of Stalkers. From PDA records and logs, their intent would be to protect the NPP and the Wish Granter, which they revere. No one knows who they are aligned with, their mood or other intentions they have. They simply ward off those who stray too close to the Centre, shooting everyone on sight and never asking questions. There is no contact with them on a personal level, which leaves much speculation to be solved about them. They may be agents of the C-Consciousness. It is not quite clear how they recruit, except for perhaps the end of Clear Sky with the seemingly brainwashing of Stalkers.



Military Stalkers: Another secret organization which hires stalkers to accompany with the officials, for stopping the stalker activity. They cannot be found around by traveling; they only made a brief appearance in Shadow of Chernobyl's final scenes. They are heavily armed, mostly using silenced marksman rifles and are sent to some critical areas by the command of the Army.

Minimalistic factions (Factions that had no good sizable images)

Army: The Ukrainian Army which are keeping the Zone unreachable from the outsiders. They are mostly drafted soldiers with limited skills, but also have a special task force in their ranks. Clear Sky also showed us the military somewhat made relations with some of the loner stalker groups, making profit while stalkers make theirs. The Army power in the Zone is very limited, along with their equipment, because of the economic reasons and having most of their forces fighting at the barrier.

Renegades: An elite bandit group which wasn't introduced in the Shadow of Chernobyl. They raided the Zone from the North-West and captured Limansk, isolating themselves within the area. They also try to control the Swamps, which makes them to wage war against Clear Sky eventually. They cannot be joined.




- Epic comics made by Crisis! :D

Awesome-Stalker and the bloodsucker village
Part 1
Part 2

Awesome-Stalker and Barin kick ass in Rostok.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 2

Awesome-Stalker and smart-bloodsucker
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Facepunch S.T.A.L.K.E.R's '09

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6356/facepunchstalkersz.jpg


- Click on the images for the webpage/download link.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl mods:













S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky mods:













Official Steam Group:



Websites:

I'm going to murder you.

Edited:

Calling dibs is not cool.

How did you not know? I said it multiple times throughout the old thread, I even made all of the thread content. The editing and precious time put forth and then some random user gets to steal it? Also you have to wait until the official thread is locked.

I'm sorry.

Sorry, I just have this need to work on the thread without having to pm someone .

You don't have to wait till the old thread is locked? It's locked now, have fun!

Yo include the Steam Group for people that weren't here when it was posted

Add the facepunch stalkers picture!

Will do, I just need some sleep afterward. So in like 2 hours I'll get to working on a massive project to reorganize the thread information. That means new images .

Crickey, another thread already!

I like the first picture, it's calm.

Edited:

Everyone be sure to work on the Stalker wikia too! It needs your love!

http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Butt cheeks

1990 posts to go.

I'm sure the Renegades in Clear Sky where just so the entire bandit faction wasn't all together as stated before in ShoC's PDA "Although there is alot of fighting between groups."

I'd like to note that Nimble must be a relative of/or someone at GSC, I don't see why he is always around. Although he has done epic things.

Wow this thread died fast

What


Anyway, to spark a discussion I'll ask what you guys like most in mods.

Variety (by that I don't mean millions of AK reskins). Not much about balance, since it sucks to have your rifle's effective range at 75 meters. Better graphics, sure. Stealth, after LURK, hell yes.

They have Blowouts and much more weapons.

Mods that give the AI more depth.

Such as virtual trading between NPC's and talking to each other and shit like AMK.

Not to mention animations and visual effects. Headbob and blood effects on your screen.

Edited:

I'm not talking trench depth, i'm talking to the centre of the earth depth.

New thread D:

Guns. It's not often you can find a Luger, an XM8 and a minigun all in the same mod, let alone the same game. They eat up memory, most of them serve as clutter (Arsenal had more than four reskins of the LR-300 and weapons like the XM8 were nearly impossible to find) and many of them are horribly inappropriate for the kind of trade the Zone sees, but they make things more interesting.

I prefer mods that don't change everyones language to russian, I want to hear the memorable quotes thankyou very much

"Take this you nazi!"

"You like fruit, here's a pineapple for you!"

"VAM BAM THANK YOU MERCENARY!"

"I NO HAVE MICROSCOPE!"

What is this a dick measuring contest, shut the hell up now!

Edited:

Why, yes it is.

I'm thinking of adding Priboi's nature into my mod, opinions?

Aslong as you still have visible 'zone' look.

I wouldn't go overboard with the intense green and shit, then it'll be just like walking in your local park.

Then again my park looks like the Zone and vise-versa.

I like the Blowouts and the redefined feel of the game. Sadly, after playing Call of Pripyat, the mods really have a lot to look up to.

I hate my moral side, I want to play CoP now dammit, not..2 months or whatever!

At max 5 months.

I'm going more for the overgrown look.

If it ain't green, then it's good, dead looking and overgrown = 1+

Nimble was originally a young scientist, fresh from the Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute, he had been assigned to work at the Chernobyl power plant. He moved to Pripyat with his fiancée and eagerly started his new job, nuclear technology and all its uses had always fascinated him. These soon subsided however, with the Chernobyl incident. He was working at the plant that day, he saw it happen first hand, and barely escaped without getting radiation poisoning, cancer... or worse. He left Pripyat with his now wife- pregnant with their first child- along with the majority of other residents in the evacuation. They found an apartment in Kiev and Nimble landed a job with Kiev University as a lab assistant in the Radiophysics Faculty. His wife gave birth, but their child was deformed from the Chernobyl incident and died only a week after birth, with the loss of their child and discovering she couldn't conceive any more children Nimble's wife took her own life by over-dosing on her medication. Grief stricken, Nimble spiralled into depression and alcohol addiction, and eventually the Kiev University sacked him.

In his depression but still hanging on, a coworker from the Chernobyl plant got into contact with him, saying he was overseeing a major project at the plant - the construction of the sarcophagus and wanted him as his assistant. Nimble took the offer, not wanting the power plant to harm anyone ever again. Nimble straightened up and worked alongside his old Chernobyl co-worker for almost a decade. He occasionally went back into the zone of alienation and got to the know the area well, when the second incident happened in 2006 Nimble was on his way out of the zone after a visit. With his 4x4 no longer working after the explosion he was stranded in the area that would later become the Army Warehouses, he eventually managed to find soldiers but they were all heading north to the plant for reasons they wouldn't reveal, along with what had happened, all they said was continue south. It took Nimble almost a month to make his way down to the cordon as more and more strange occurrences happened and sightings of creatures in the distance. As he approached the military entrance something was wrong, they opened fire the instant they saw him approaching- so Nimble fled back to the small village he passed. He found people still living there - or well, they had came from outside the zone, a man who called himself Wolf told Nimble the zone was now locked down the military was killing anyone on sight. He explained what he knew from news and hearsay about this new incident at the power plant and regretted to inform Nimble he wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

More than a year had passed, Nimble had adjusted to this new zone, this new world. Working with Wolf and doing odd jobs for Sidorovich as well as regularly collecting artefacts that he'd pass onto Sid to sell to universities and institutes in the big land. When scavenging through the swamps with two other loners for a rare artefact a blowout caught them off guard, one of them was killed and when Nimble and other surviving loner reached the way they found it filled with anomalies. They turned back and tried to find another way out of the swamps when a terrifying creature suddenly appeared out of the reeds grabbing the other loner and lunging off into the distance with him. Nimble ran through the swamps, ducking and weaving through anomalies, hoping the thing wasn't chasing him - not wanting to look back to know. He eventually came to a small hamlet and hid in one of the houses as night approached. Three men entered the house in the night, one of them a captive, he was beaten and tied to a chair, the two bandit looker-likes asking him about a base hidden somewhere in the swamps. A pack of boars rambled into the hamlet and Nimble took his chance with the two bandits occupied, he got out of his hiding place, shooting one of them in the back with his Chaser-13 and managing to shove the other through the house's front door and slamming it shut as the bandit tried to get to his feet - two boars racing towards him. Nimble untied the captive and gave him the weapon the first bandit had - the man told him he was a member of Clear Sky, a secretive faction started in the weeks after the second incident by the UN, they were based in the swamp and sought to investigate the zone in hope of stopping it. The man led Nimble to the Clear Sky base and he met with their leader Lebedev, who had remarkably heard of Nimble before, knowing of his work on the sarcophagus and offered him a place in Clear Sky. Nimble took the up the offer in an instant, feeling he could once again help the world from the Chernobyl plant. Over the next three years Nimble worked with Clear Sky until a mercenary passed through the base and eventually helps the Clear Sky faction break through to the Chernobyl Plant. Nimble is on his way north, travelling with a group of Clear Sky soldiers and a few scientists when an immense blow-out rocks the area. Any attempts at reaching Lebedev over the radio is met with silence but they press on to Limansk. As they reach the bridge, they find a group of mercenaries that say they helped the other Clear Sky soldiers and a merc across the river eariler, but they were all around the Chernobyl plant when the blowout happened and there was no chance any of them could still be alive.

By themselves in Limansk, the last members of Clear Sky decide to split and go their separate ways, to either try and escape or make it in the zone. Nimble, saddened again with the loss of his friends and any true purpose returned to Cordon and met up with Wolf again. Nimble went back to doing jobs for Sid and helping Wolf, he eventually managed to gain his own group of loners under his command, they'd often venture north and get things which may help the rookies back in Cordon or get good loot to sell to Sid, during all this Nimble begins to import weapons and armour himself into the zone for his own group and sell to traders or others. A year or so after returning back to Cordon, Sid gave Nimble a job of retrieving a flash drive from the Agroprom. Nimble gathers his group and they head off north, sneaking past the bridge and up into the Garbage. Nimble and the group have a narrow run-in with a group of bandits trying to hold them at gun-point, getting saved when Bes shows up, ambushing the bandits with his loners from the scrapyard. Nimble thanks him and he continues onto the Agroprom. They meet up with Moles group in a camp to the north, Mole wanted his loners to claim the north facility as a loner base as it had been a year ago, the flash drive was with the commander of the northern facility, so Nimble wasn't reluctant to joining with Mole's group. The next morning the two groups assaulted the north facility, attacking through the two entrances and taking over the base surprisingly quick. Nimble loses two from his group but still has three remaining, Mole thanks Nimble for the help and gives him the flash drive from the now dead commander and tells him to visit some time. Nimble and his group set off back to the Cordon, only hours later the military striking back in the Agroprom to regain the northern facility. As Nimble's group passed through the garbage the same group of bandits from earlier reappeared, and not taking any chances this time shot at Nimble's group on sight. Two more of the group falls, Nimble and the last surviving member - Tollik flee south, the bandits in pursuit. They eventually catch up with Nimble and Tollik, shooting and wounding Tollik and about to kill Nimble when he suddenly spurts out a lie about really good stash not far away. The bandits believe him and send one of their own to go off and find it, while they drag Nimble away to the bandit outpost in Cordon, leaving Tollik for dead.

Luckily a stalker bursts into the camp with Wolf's group and take out the bandits,Marked One - a stalker branded with the mark of the stalkers rescue him and asks for the flash drive so he can deliver it to Sidorovich, Nimble gladly hands if over and asks if the stalker can also retrieve a piece of armour a short distance away that was meant to be delivered but never arrived. Nimble returns to the village and sleeps for a while in one of the houses, he's awoken by Tollik and relieved to see he's alive. The two hang around Cordon for a few days unsure what to do now the group is all but gone. They decide to head up to Rostok to see if any work is going. They reach the bar and begin doing tasks for the barkeep, all the while trying to find new members for the group, no one particularity wanting to join or already with a group. They eventually join with up a new group being started by a well-known Stalker in the bar. Just the next week Marked One somehow manages to deactivate the Brain Scorcher. The group leader takes the group upto Pripyat to hunt for good artefacts and loot but an ambush by Monolith troops separates the group and Nimble is forced to find cover as a huge blowout approaches.

Eventually Nimble crawled out of the basement he hid in to find the city deserted, and no sign of Tollik, or anyone else from the group. Alone again Nimble decides not to go back down to Cordon, too many bad memories come from that place, he heads west into more of Pripyat and north to the Jupiter plant and stops at Creek. He stops doing jobs for others and becomes a trader himself, continuing to import top grade armour and weapons from outside the zone such as he did for his group. He keeps back the last order he got when he was still in Cordon, in hope that one day, somehow, an old member of his group would come by. And he wouldn't be alone anymore.

I have Call of Pripyat and it's absolutely nothing new, The Zone is smaller, the monsters seem the same, so do the graphics, the stalkers and everything else.

I think they removed Faction wars (like in Clear sky) though.


Also holy shit @ above.

But it feels more polished, while still retaining that Stalker feel. The Quest system, for instance, is excellently done.

Holy crap this is the best megathread I've ever seen.
Anyway I got the free STALKER for like 3 bucks some time ago, bnut got bored of it in les than an hour. Does it get a lot better later on?

Yeah.

It does get rather shootery in the last 1/3. But, maybe Stalker just isn't for you vv, what other games do you play?

yes. very much better. for me, the point where it becomes less of a struggle was right after    x18.   

Testing my proportions, hope I've got everything correct here.