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

Overview

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first person shooter developed by Ukrainian developer GSC Gameworld, and published by THQ in 2007. A prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky, was announced by GSC Gameworld in 2007 and released to mixed reviews. The game is a non-linear, open world shooter, which falls heavily on the FPS side of the FPS RPG genre. It features large open maps, populated by mutants, friendly and enemy NPC characters. There are also several underground maps such as the X10-X18 series of experimental laboratories.

The year is 2012; 6 years after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant suffered a mysterious second meltdown, leaving the 25km radius area known as the Exclusion Zone a barren wasteland filled with mutants, strange inexplicable anomalies and artifacts with strange properties. In S.T.A.L.K.E.R, players control a "stalker", a scavenger searching the Zone for valuable artifacts.

In the game, the player must deal with radiation hazards, areas distorted by the explosion and unexplainable by science known as anomalies, as well as enemy stalkers such as bandits or Army soldiers. The game features the "A-Life" AI system, in which NPCs will roam the world and perform their own unscripted activities. The game features a main set of storyline missions, as well as many optional tasks that can be performed for rewards (typically assassination or object retrieval missions). The game features a faction system, where the player has different standings (enemy, neutral, friend) to individual faction members and to the faction as a whole. The player may choose to aid different factions, such as Duty or Freedom, in return for different rewards and possible repercussions or to stay neutral.

The game does not play like a normal RPG, where the player may customize their own attributes, but the game does allow the player to equip a wide variety of artifacts which may change the player's vulnerability to various types of damage as well as change their physical attributes while in use. Character interaction is generally limited to a friend-or-foe relationship system with almost no dialogue for generic NPCs. The game features a bare-bones shadow-based stealth system in addition to normal shooter mechanics. The story is told through rendered cutscenes between major story segments.

The game is infamous for its instability and many bugs (such as the "irradiation" bug, where a player enters a level changer while under the effects of radiation become constantly irradiated even if outside of a radiation hotspot). The developers released five patches, the latest of which (1.006) was recalled due to further bugs caused. Most of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod community develops mods for patch 1.0004 and 1.0005, the most commonly used patches. In the meantime, a community patch known as the Zone Reclamation Project compiled by Natvac has fixed many of the bugs remaining in the game.

Development and Alpha Build

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was initially announced in November 2001, and was set to be released in late 2003. The game was previously known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost. Vehicles were initially a part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. but were scrapped from the final version of the game. In addition, the "burer" and "chimera" mutants were removed from the final game, as well as several maps, such as "darkscape" and the original Limansk map (the original storyline had the player rescuing Strelok's associate Doc from the grasp of mercenaries in Limansk) - all features which the "Lost Alpha" mod will attempt to add back to the game.

However, it was delayed several times. The game was finally released world wide on March 22, 2007. The game offers both single player and multiplayer, though the latter is the weaker of the two. The game has since been released on Steam and developed a large cult fanbase, which continues to add in old removed content and to modify the game.

In March 2009, GSC Gameworld released the Oct. 18 2004 alpha build of the then S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Oblivion Lost (NOT to be confused with Kanyahlos's Oblivion Lost mod). It includes features cut from the final game, such a stronger sci-fi element as well as driveable vehicles. The game world was larger, with less barbed wire fences reducing level size. GSC Game World stated that they wouldn't provide technical support or guarantee stability for the alpha build. It is, despite the instability, worth downloading and having a look at for any S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan, just to see how much changed. Download instructions can be found here on the GSC Game World forums.

Story

The player character is known only as the 'Marked One', after the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. tattoo on his arm. Suffering from amnesia, the only clue to the protagonist's identity is a PDA informing the player to find and eliminate another Stalker by the name of Strelok. During the game, players traverse the outskirts of the Chernobyl Nuclear Outpost, known as 'The Zone', in search of Strelok and the protagonist's identity.

Once the protagonist's true identity is revealed and the player has reached the nuclear power plant, the player is given a choice of endings. Players can choose to pursue their dreams by approaching the "Wish Granter", an artifact which is said to have the power to grant anybody's wishes. The wish that is made is dependant on gameplay choices throughout Shadow of Chernobyl. If the player undertook an optional set of side-quests, they can pursue the truth about Chernobyl, the Zone and the Monolith.

The game takes place in a location called The Zone, which is nothing but an alternate reality version of Chernobyl Power plant after the second fictitious nuclear power plant accident. The second explosion has contaminated the surrounding areas with radiation, causing hideous mutations in the wildlife.

The radiations has also resulted in mutations among animals, making them a whole lot different and a lot more violent compared to their real world counterparts. There also exists quite a few mutated humans, especially in the underground tunnels, which makes the environment a lot more creepy.

RPG Elements

A large part of the game deals with the management of the player character and thus effectiveness in The Zone. The character management is split up into two sections: items and character information. The character inventory within the game is made up of various elements of player management. The grid boxes are meant for items and all other areas are for descriptions and other information. The other side of the RPG coin here is the economy of The Zone and the player's state within the mercantile system.

Items

The game is riddled with items of many kinds including food, drink, guns, ammo, weapons,med kits, armor, and other kinds of items. Each item has a certain weight and, of course, the inventory can only hold a certain amount of weight. The size of each items also means that there is a limit to the amount of items that can be contained within the inventory. The bulk of the inventory will deal with weaponry. The hyper-realistic aspect of the game's gun play means there's a cornucopia of real-world ammo to use. This coincides with the real-world use of Russian and international fire-arms with slightly modified in-game versions of the real weapons. Each weapon can have multiple firing modes, and attachments like scopes and silencers. Strangely enough, silencers are very rare in the game. The game will allow players to equip armor, a primary weapon, a secondary weapon and artifacts.

Artifacts

The "abilities" in the game can be enhanced by attaching artifacts to the belt. The artifacts can range from common junk to very rare and each have their own cost vs. reward in their use. Players can fit up to five artifacts. The fact that they are a pricy commodity in The Zone doesn't hurt either, except for the radiation.

Artifact	Positive Effects	Negative Effects
	-400% Bleeding	-10% to Burn Resistance -10% to Chemical Burn Resistance
	-267% Bleeding	-10% to Burn Resistance -10% to Chemical Burn Resistance
	-133% Bleeding	-10% to Burn Resistance -10% to Chemical Burn Resistance
	Bulletproof cap 5%
	Bulletproof cap 5%	Radiation 5%
	Bulletproof cap 3%	Radiation 5%
	Bulletproof cap 2%	Radiation 5%
	Burn Resistance 30%
	Chemical Burn Resistance 30%
	Electro Shock Resistance 30%
	Endurance 109%	-10% to Electric Shock Resistance
	Endurance 73%	-10% to Electric Shock Resistance
	Endurance 36%	-10% to Electric Shock Resistance
	Health Recovery 600%	-10% to Impact Resistance -10% to Rupture Resistance -10% to Bulletproof cap
	Health Recovery 400%	-10% to Impact Resistance -10% to Rupture Resistance -10% to Bulletproof cap
	Health Recovery 200%	-10% to Impact Resistance -10% to Rupture Resistance -10% to Bulletproof cap
	Impact Resistance 30%
	-30% to Radiation	-18% to Endurance
	-20% to Radiation	-18% to Endurance
	-10% to Radiation	-18% to Endurance
	-30% to Radiation	Bleeding 100%
	-20% to Radiation	Bleeding 100%
	-10% to Radiation	Bleeding 100%
	Rupture Resistance 5%
	Rupture Resistance 5%	Radiation 5%
	Rupture Resistance 3%	Radiation 5%
	Rupture Resistance 2%	Radiation 5%

Character Information

The rest of the menu is composed of player stats and item descriptions. The state of radiation, armor, and health are also given as well as a picture of the player character. Clicking on an item will provide players with information regarding its uses, stat bonuses it provides, the cost, weight, and a little background info.

Economy

There are a small number of merchants within the game; they buy everything and sell what they can get. Their inventory items depend how deep they are in The Zone. Money is important in stocking up on items, ammo, and anything else that is needed.

PDA

Another element to consider is the PDA. It features all primary and secondary objectives, the journal, statistics, and the map of The Zone. It's a major source of narrative as it can display tapes and documents that provide an insight into the world. There is also an aspect of competition amongst STALKER as each notable one is given a rank and compete to become the top dog. Admittedly the statistic feature relating to the STALKER is nebulous and hard to discern what defines which value. It does however give statistics such as mutants killed and time played.

Quests and Factions

The story-driven quest will be provided by the merchants and if players have fulfilled all previous engagements, a prompt will appear directing players to a particular merchant. The 100 Rad Bar will be a hotspot of STALKERS and other characters ready to give players a job to do; this will be the primary way of obtaining cash and seeing the game world.

Factions

Faction interaction is an integral part of Shadow of Chernobyl. Factions in the game consist of the Loners, Bandits, Military, Freedom, Duty, Ecologists, Mercenaries and the Monolith. Players can choose between aiding different groups, such as Freedom or Duty, while others begin as enemies (in the case of bandits and military). Factions are also mentioned in the game which are not represented in the game, such as Final Day and The Confederacy. Joining a faction will gain the player acceptance, entrance into their home bases and allows players to purchase from their traders and take quests from the faction leaders. It is possible to be hostile to all factions. The protagonist's relationship with individual STALKERs depend on the player's actions; enemy factions may have members who are neutral towards the protagonist (if players were friendly with them before becoming hostile to the faction) and neutral factions can have members who are hostile (notably, some groups of loners may be hostile).

Loners

Loners are the general stalker population. They are those who are unaligned with other groups. They may vary from green rookies sitting in the rookie village to hardened veterans with assault rifles and exoskeletons. If players have a bad reputation, the loner population may turn hostile. Bandits are the opposite numbers of loners, groups of stalkers who roam the Zone killing and looting, attempting to steal from the factions and lone stalkers alike. They are hostile and vary from thugs with sawed-off shotguns to hardened well-organized gangs armed with MP5s. Bandits can become neutral if the protagonist is enemies with Duty, Freedom, and Loners and have a terrible reputation.

Military

The Military's goal is to rid the Zone of stalkers. They are always enemies. Military consists of regular soldiers, who are generally used to patrol and occupy their bases. These are unused to the Zone and are normally armed with AK-74Us. More elite Spetsnaz are employed for raids and special operations deep into the Zone. These are armed with better quality AN-94 Abakans. The Military also hires veteran stalkers in return for amnesty; Military stalkers may be encountered by the player in the late game and are dangerous enemies. The Ecologists - the scientists - are interested in the new possibilities in science revealed by the Zone; unfortunately they work in an extremely hostile environment filled with enemies (such as the Mercenary faction who work to steal their valuable research, as well as zombies and other mutants who menace them). They are unskilled fighters and generally need the help of the Military (in the form of helicopters), Duty soldiers (who later defend their lab from zombie attacks) and the protagonist. Mercenaries are mysterious soldiers-for-hire wandering the Zone, fulfilling objectives for foreign hire. They are the most mysterious faction, mostly because their agenda is unknown. They are equipped with advanced NATO equipment. A group of mercenaries have been engaged in attempting to infiltrate Freedom.

Duty

Duty was formed out the remnants of the military forces that first ventured into the Zone, the survivors swearing to destroy The Zone and rid the world of its evil. They are closely allied to the Ecologists (to whom they give artifacts for research) and provide shelter for groups of loners in the Rostok area around the 100 Rads Bar. They are primarily involved in suppressing bandits and mercenaries, as well as exterminating mutants. They are armed with Warsaw Pact weaponry, such as the AN-94 Abakan and the AK-74. Veteran Duty soldiers may be armed with superior AS Val or OTs-14 Grozas, which outmatch Freedom's weaponry. Duty has a militaristic command structure and are led by General Voronin. A group of interest is Skull's deserters, a group of veteran Duty fighters who have ignored the ceasefire and are planning to attack the Freedom base.

Freedom

Freedom believe that the Zone belongs to everyone and shouldn't be closed by the Government. They have taken over the Army Warehouses north of Rostok and are involved in an uneasy ceasefire with Duty forces. Freedom are slightly antagonistic towards Ecologists - seeing them as representatives of the Ukrainian Government - but are neutral to the bandits, preferring a live-and-let-live policy. Freedom are better armed than Duty, with Bulldog RG-6 grenade launchers and SVD sniper rifles as well as NATO weaponry. Freedom have a looser command structure than Duty, and are led by Lukash and his deputy Max.

Monolith

The Monolith control the Red Forest, Pripyat and the Nuclear Power Plant itself. Amazingly, they haven't been rendered zombified by the power of X10, the Brain Scorcher. The Monolith are the most dangerous human enemies in the game, they are heavily armoured in exoskeletons, are armed with G36 and SVD rifles as well as the experimental Gauss rifles. They worship the Monolith, an artifact allegedly able to grant all wishes in a room in the Nuclear Power Plant. The Monolith are brainwashed fanatics and are the enemies of all the other factions.

The Zone

The Zone is a 30 km wide area that was formed around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant following the 1986 (real) disaster and perverted by the second (fictitious) Chernobyl disaster in 2006.

The real-life Zone stretches between the borders of Ukraine and Belarus, and is kept protected by the Ukrainian authorities. Human presence and activity naturally diminished and wildlife flourished as it well pleased. Following the ficticious 2006 disaster (which is what really matters to the game), animals and the wild life in general have suffered grotesque mutations and deadly anomalies can be found pretty much anywhere.

Deviation From Real Geography

The southerly part of the game world is an amalgam of topology and architecture from the region rather than an attempt at accurate recreation. However, the north contains three major landmarks from the area. These locations were modelled faithfully on their real counterparts (albeit on a reduced scale), but were placed inaccurately.

GSC placed the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on the west bank of the Pripyat River,

which is essentially correct when we bear in mind the game’s scale. However, the city of Pripyat was placed immediately to the south-east, which is not accurate. In reality it sits several kilometres to the north-west. Just below Pripyat in the game is the Red Forest, an area which absorbed much of the disaster’s radiation. Fortunately for the residents of northern Ukraine, the forest is nowhere near the Pripyat River, or any other major body of water. Instead, it is roughly 2 km to the south-west of the nuclear reactor, putting it over 5 km from the river itself. The upshot of these changes is that the city of Pripyat has been moved in between the power plant and the Red Forest, while all 3 landmarks have been made to form a straight line which has no relationship to reality.

List of Locations

• Cordon
• Garbage
• Agroprom
  • Agroprom Underground
• Dark Valley
  • Lab X-18
• Rostok
  • Bar
  • Wild Territory
• Yantar
  • Lab X-16
• Army Warehouses
• Red Forest
  • Lab X-10
• Pripyat
• Chernobyl Power Plant
  • Sarcophagus
  • Monolith Control Center

Dangers of The Zone

Resulting from the fictional second Chernobyl Outpost Disaster, Radiation and altered physics have engulfed The Zone, turning it into a hostile and dangerous place.

Anomalies

Anomalies are spots where standard physics have been defied, producing a variety of traps, some more deadly than others. Several varieties exist, from mild electric shocks to near invisible tornado-like whirlwinds and Burning Anomalies. If players maintain a keen eye while playing, they will notice air or light distortions that will give their locations away. Anomalies also produce Artifacts and different Anomalies denote a differing possible Artifact. Anomalies always change location after a Blowout.

List of Anomalies:

• Burner
• Vortex
• Springboard
• Whirligig
• Fruit Punch
• Electro
• Burnt Fuzz
• Gas
• Lift
• Time
• Sparks
• Space Anomaly

Radiation

The Chernobyl outskirts have suffered from radiation since the initial disaster took place in 1986. However, these were never as deadly as those produced by the second reactor explosion in 2012. Invisible pockets create invisible dead ends and mazes in unexpected places. Like Anomalies, they can change quickly after a Blowout, so pay attention to the Radiometer and don't sprint through unexplored areas. The lasting effects of Radiation can be devastating and should be eliminated with Anti-Rad medicine.

Mutants

As a result of increased radiation, both humans and animals have succumbed to un-evolutionary mutation, effectively increasing the aggression of those affected. Rarely is there a nice mutant in the world and unfortunately bullets are the solution. Several mutated creatures are within the game, however removed from the final product. These are available through user modifications, such as Oblivion Lost or AMK.

Description	Mutant
Heavily mutated humans, thought to be missing military stalkers, that have been engulfed by the zone. They feed off all types of flesh and have the ability to jump long distances in order to catch their prey. They are distinguishable in that they make a lion-like roar whenever present. Their hunched positions make it difficult to pin-point their heads form their bodies and head-shots are difficult.
Rodents are thought to have originated from some sort of small gregarious mammal, though scientists have yet to prove this. They are found in many broken buildings and basements and are almost always found in packs. Being small creatures, they can be a major nuisance to shoot.
A tall, hunched, humanoid type figure, that paralyze their victims so he can suck its blood. The Bloodsucker is also able to turn invisible to hide and stalk its prey until the time is right.
Mutated from wolves, Pseudodogs prowl the zone in packs, devouring large and small beasts alike. They are very territorial, and will attack anything that comes close. Surprisingly the dogs are very resilient to standard ammunition and low and even medium range weaponry.
The Boars found in the zone are very aggressive yet their large heads make killing the creatures a lot easier. They also harbor no real resistance to munitions fire. They are able to withstand copious amounts of radiation, which allows them to roam the heavily contaminated areas for extended periods of time.
Many animals that were present in the zone before the incident underwent vast genetic mutations. The pig was no exception. They developed a protective layer of bones and scales around their entire body. Now, known as The Flesh, they are omnivores and will attack stalkers if hungry.
The Poltergeist is only found deep within the zone. It is a truly supernatural being with psychic powers and the ability to turn invisible. These traits make the poltergeist one of the hardest mutants in the game. They also happen to float and will resist heavy damage. They will appear as apparitions and will telekinetically manipulate objects to hurt the player. Their true form only appears after being killed.
At first, Controller's seems like humans with no shirts on. But, the player then realizes that Controllers are capable of throwing Psychic attacks and is able to control lesser Mutants. Hence the name "Controller". An eerie and grating sound often is accompanied by a grained effect on the screen when a controller is near. He/It is a major threat.
Zombies are merely mutated humans. They are poor souls that wandered too far into Lake Yantar and its brain scrambling device. The radiation only enhances these effect and hence zombies. They have an elementary retention of previous abilities which includes firing a gun. This does mean however that zombies do carry standard items.
The retail version should exclude this creature, but tinkering with the content means it can arrive in the game.
Mutant Dogs travel in packs and usually accompany pseudodogs.
Rats Radiation = Badder Rats. They are simply creatures of the land who go about their business eating whatever they can find.
The Jolt! version of Chernobyl rats I suppose. Another mod mystery mutant.
A true husk of mutant flesh, these giant beasts will usually follow the sound of their booming steps. The equivalent of the "tank" enemy, it requires a lot of firepower and preferebaly explosive to take down. Rare but powerful monsters who also have other powers.

Weapons

Most weapons in the game are identical to real-life weaponry, but just use different names.

Pistols

Shotguns

Submachine Guns

Assault Rifles

Sniper Rifles

Launchers

Grenades

• RGD-5 Grenade

• F1 Grenade aka Frag Grenade

• Smoke Grenade

Melee

• Knife

Attachments

Some weapons allow for some limited modifications, namely in the form of attachments, them being:

• Silencer

• SUSAT Scope

• PSO-1 Scope

• M203 Grenade Launcher

• GP-25 Kostyer Grenade Launcher

Armor

Items

Radiation Removers

• Anti-rad
• Energy drink
• Vodka
• Antidote
• Psy-block
• Radioprotectant

Health Related

• Medkit
• Army Medkit
• Scientific Medkit
• Bandage
• Vinca
• Hercules
• Anabiotics

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete 2009

The STALKER Complete 2009 mod was designed by professional graphic artists and has set the standards for making STALKER mods. Its grand success has inspired many similar project, but the Complete 2009 is one of the most talked-about and famous mods out there – for any game, really. The mod has even been reviewed by magazines such as PCFormat among others.

One of the key designers working on the Complete 2009, Pavel Dolgov (ArtisPavel), and the rest of the Complete crew spent nearly two years designing the mod. They have renewed the game with updated visual qualities

(over 900 textures have been redone)

as well as modified some of the gameplay to make it more fit for people which otherwise might not have originally been into STALKER. The team working on the mod has made sure not to screw around with the core elements of the game; the overall experience will stay the same, albeit enhanced by beautiful graphics fit for a newer generation. Simply put, the whole presentation of the game has been improved so a wider range of audience might be able to enjoy this game as much as hardcore STALKER fans.

The designers have retouched almost every single little detail, and overall the game feels more polished. According to the designers, this mod is especially ideal for players who already have completed the game but want to do a replay.

Full list of features and enhancements:

Weather

• Natural multi-phase day and night transitions, based on daily observations, photographs, and studies by artists from Dolgov Studios
• Vast distant views, creating large open world around the player
• New multi-phase moon design authored by Dolgov Studios.
• Proper sun travel according to date (01.05.2012) and geographic location (Ukraine).
• Enhanced High Dynamic Range lighting and Sun effects (including realistic sunsets and sunrises).
• Increased weather cycling.
• Different types of storms, fast and slow. # Wet surfaces during rain.
• High resolution nighttime constellation map. # Improved water animations.

Graphics

• Parallax Occlusion Mapping - Gives 2D textures the illusion of 3D geometry, most visible on surfaces such as brick walls.
• Screen Space Ambient Occlusion - A shading method that approximates the way light radiates in real life, creating soft shadows in corner-type places with a difficult lighting sample.
• Depth of Field - An effect that creates a gradual decrease in sharpness determined by the subject distance. For example, a distant landscape will appear blurry when compared to closer objects.
• Motion Blur - A streaking effect frequently used to show a sense of speed when the camera quickly moves around.
• Particle system - Enhanced rendering of fire, explosions, smoke, muzzle, sparks, falling leaves, anomalies, fog, and more.
• Water Shaders - Improved water effects ported from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky.
• Fire Dynamic Lighting - Fire now illuminates the surroundings, casting dynamic shadows.

Textures

• Locations - all textures replaced with higher quality photographs with partial use of original files, creating highly detailed outdoor and indoor environments.
• Living Creatures - Mutated creatures have soaking wet flesh showing through wounds, creating a disturbingly graphic effect. Also, all humans in Zone have been retouched down to even the finest details (armor, shoes, wrinkles, faces, even their eyeballs).
• Vehicles - 20 year old vehicles in the Zone now appear realistically rusted and abandoned.

Bug fixes

The game is know for its rather massive arsenal of bugs. But with the Complete 09, the bugs disappear. The community have gathered an extensive number of bugs which the developers have picked up on and which have been eliminated with the Complete mod.

A.I.

• New abilities - NPCs can avoid anomalies, remove dead bodies from camp sites, throw grenades, change armor, and even heal other NPCs. Players can also give weapons and armor to NPCs by selling or dropping it near them and giving them privacy to equip them (An NPC’s preferences may prevent them from accepting the items, however).
• Early detection - Removed the ability for NPCs to notice the player at unrealistically large distances.
• Stealth - Knife and other critical sounds such as falling dead bodies, grass, and footsteps have been properly commented to reduce their sound radius, making the gameplay much more realistic.
• Death panic - Reduced the sound distance of death cries (in the original game it caused the entire camp to alert once one member was hit, as it was set to be heard at a great distance).

Sound

Complete 2009 replaces a massive amount of in-game sounds, including weapons, anomalies, equipment clatter, footsteps, nightlife, bullet fly-by sounds and more with higher quality versions. Also, the mod adds unique ambient sounds for each weather cycle. “Repetitive” NPCs will now only say their lines once (such as the “Get out of here, stalker” line), and hundreds of additional ambient sounds like bar kitchen cooking, nighttime horror sounds, fog sounds, and more have been added to the game, creating a more immersive audio experience.

Other

There is a bunch of other changes and enhancements as well -- localization, a new interface, additional music like guitar tracks played by stalkers around in the game as well as features as a sleeping bag, which allows the player to speed up time. It has also been added freeplay, which means when the game is completed with the "good" ending, the player can continue to roam the mysteries zone.

Soundtrack

The original score for S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl was composed by MoozE with the exception of the last 3 tracks, done by FireLake. The soundtrack is is available for free download at the game's official website.

Trivia

• The acronym that forms the title of the game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., stands for "Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber."
• The game is based off the movie Stalker (by Andrei Tarkovsky), which in turn is based off the novel A Roadside Picnic (by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky). Roadside Picnic was originally set in in an exclusion Zone caused by alien "first contact" in Canada, but Tarkovsky's Stalker changes the setting to an unspecified Eastern European area.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Oblivion Lost was originally going to be a game set on an alien world, with emphasis on Aztec architecture in existing trailers.

System Requirements

Minimum

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 / Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.
• CPU (Processor): Intel Pentium 4 2Ghz / AMD XP 2200 .
• RAM: 512MB.
• HDD (Hard Drive): 10GB.
• GPU (Graphics Card): 128MB DirectX 9c compatible card / Nvidia GeForce 5700 / ATI Radeon 9600.
• Sound Card: DirectX 9 compatible sound card.

Recommended

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 / Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.
• CPU (Processor): Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 .
• RAM: 1GB or Better.
• HDD (Hard Drive): 10GB.
• GPU (Graphics Card): 256MB DirectX 9c compatible card / Nvidi a GeForce 7900 / ATI Radeon X1850.
• Sound Card: DirectX 9 compatible sound card.