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wujekfoliarz · 14 days ago

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. World analysis and speculation, implications - PART ONE, MATERIAL GOODS AND MAKESHIFT BASES

The Zone is an interesting case, because while it is considered to be one of the major postapocalyptic games out there, it is not actually one - with even Half Life franchise (newer entries) being closer to the title of "postapo". However, lets focus back on the Zone

NOTE - LONG UNDER CUT

Might or might not be a nothingburger, but I havent seem people talk bout those

TLDR at the end. Not checked, we die like rookies - may update

First of all, the Zone is an isolated region with a somewhat set-in-stone size, as even in an event of an expansion, the Military still holds some guard over the perimeter (or what would be left of it in an event of Noosphere scar swelling). The Military might be far from efficient, however it is still a basic form of shielding the zone

The impact of this one specific thing is that we can be almost sure that all major Zone Import happens with military-approved trucks or on foot. Size, noise and light wouldnt be that hard to notice, not to mention that off-roading would be a problem, and we are still talking about out-of-perimeter. Thus, this limits the size of goods per-import, not to mention the chance of the smuggler being caught

Thankfully, it is revealed by Sidorovich that Military keeps an eye shut on some things

"I know the commander a little: he likes to take a swig as much as the next man. I'm surviving on here thanks to him."

This, other than exposing the corruption of Military and making sure the player isnt fond of them, shows that Military does have contacts with free stalkers, as long as it is beneficial. The Clear Sky Cordon plot revolves around Scar dealing with the military, which has betrayed stalkers and made deals with bandits, selling out information and such

Considering that the Ruble is a Zone-only currency (in addition, a virtual one as well if I am not mistaken - transferable by PDAs), it would be without sense for Sidorovich to pay in or exchange cash used by people who are being shot for sport. Thus, we can assume that the payment is being done in artefacts, as other items can be easily and cheapily manufactured outside the zone (medkits, ammunition, etc).

While things such as S2 artefact descriptions sometimes tell us about their use outside of the Zone, we do not know how it is with the legal status. Does (insert facility)s buy the artefacts from Black Market, get them from excess officially collected ones, or what? Dont even get me started on artefacts losing their anomalous properties outside of the zone. We could assume that by ~2022, enough of them is collected for them to actually have an use on mainland instead of being kept in fancier glass jars, but it is not like we have official statistics. Not like we have advanced ALife to count that ourselves...

Coming back to the Zone Ruble - it is a specific problem. First of all, "trader scamming" is a well-known thing that is yet another "save your game every two seconds" factor (traders buying for small prices, selling for comically large ones).

Call of Pripyat seems to be the "most advanced" original trilogy game when it comes to mechanics, so we will take a look at everything in it

A good example for trader scamming would be Owl and a bad weapon such as a PMm, apparently selling for as low as 100 rubles, but selling (back) for whole 640. Additionally, diet sausage (Beard) is 31/105. This is obviously based on how common these items are - one bandit killing spree and you end up with tons of these peashooters

We can assume most people in the zone, apart from the metaphysically-controlled protagonist and those who are good at, well, killing people, loot their guns from other bodies. Lets be honest, a viable strategy in early-game (and those moments when you run out of ammo in-field) as carrying multiple guns is in most cases obligerates your stamina. As mentioned previously, people like Mercs or Stalkers-who-do-a-lot-of-contracts-professionally are an exception. But if you have enough as a simple Sunrise-suit-wearing artefact collector, then why care?

It would be stupid to try and answer the question on how did these guns appear in the zone for the first time, however we can assume smuggling in (either someone enters the zone with a weapon or someone trades with a stalker) is the basic way. Military does not seem to use a wide array of weapons (mainly using 5.45x39mm eastern european weapons, commonly lumped in as "Warsaw Pact"), with the only exceptions being elite units such as Spetsnaz or chokepoints with machine guns, maybe an occasional

Additionally, a very basic way to classify factions, groups is by their gun choice. I dont think I have to remind anyone who uses what, however it is a nice distinction that Duty prefers fast firerate common weapons (blasting mutants and badly-armoured bandits), while Freedom is characterized by more accurate, a bit uncommon weapons associated with NATO. Both factions, of course, arent tied to those weapons. Not to mention mercenaries

What this means is obvious - larger groups that matter can actually make deals with groups outside the zone. Mercenaries and monolithians as well, however with monolithians its a bit less straightforward. I could try to explain how that would work (with monolithians and the goals of Mercs in CoP), however I have not played S2. Additionally, the deifinition for "Mercenary" seems to be really blurry. Scar is referred to as a "Merc" his entire game, while it is shown in the opening cutscene that he is only wearing a simple leather jacket, like a loner rookie. While supplementing men in the Zone must surely be a problem (CoP starving mercenaries), then having them put on some pants shouldnt be that hard

Back to item prices, suits specifically

First of all, some suits are described as "made by DIY-ers" (real), for an example the Sunrise suit. The price does change between games, going from 15k RU to just 5K RU. It is reffered to as "cheap" and "common". Additionally, factions seem to have specialized craftsmen (?), as Wind of Freedom and Guardian of Freedom both have it (item desc.). Duty, on the other hand, is told to use suits commisioned from Kyiv (item desc.), which adds to the "diplomacy, but out men shoot at eachother" relationship

On "out-of-zone"-made suits, it gets interesting, because eg. Guardian of Freedom is a modified Berill-5m suit, used by the military, which means that Freedomers do get their hands on those sometimes. The exoskeleton is also told to be made out-of-zone, as it was innefficient to produce. According to Nimble, their production in the sole underground factory (origin of my current "Crackhead Pneumatics" display) shut down, which means that all of them are looted off corpses or purchased from people who owned them before, as of 2012. Apparently, their production began again with S2, SIRCAA, Ward and others. SSP is obvious (-99M version Kruglovs one, is, funfact, combat oriented), SEVA is as well

Items that are not useable by the player, thus excluding them from what we can calculate, but are present in games? Tents, cigarettes, likely various drugs with only weed being confirmed. I do wonder if the drugs are charged extra...

'kay, now, homelessness. The first and most basic issue, radiation. This could be solved by equipping the proper artefact, and rookies without it would likely sleep in set locations, such as the Rookie Village

Second "life-threat" - emissions. Having the player be able to find a safe hiding spot without having to traverse half the map is one thing, but a tent likely wouldnt be able to withstand a full on emission. Game design my ass, Flea Market (CS, Garbage) counts as a shelter and the "Scar knockout basement"(also CS Garbage), does not

Third, mutants and enemies. This means that "open" huts and houses (Bloodsucker village, Army Warehouses) are a no-no, as anyone and anything could just simply walk in and attack a sleeping stalker. Surely, one could decide to sleep in the attic (if we assume it is emission-resistant), but there sure are still some threats

So, a perfect stalker hideout - likely used by multiple people - has to withstand emissions (concrete walls?), preferably not be irradiated and have no way for mutants or bandits to walk in. If you have a single place where you feel safe sleeping all the time, it would make sense to also stash your items here, as leaving ones base without care - and making sure that they can still get in - would mean that when the owner dissappears, the hideout can be safely looted

An average major faction, such as Freedom or Duty, does have some sort of "barracks" for their members. The question is, if non-specific estabilishments (Loners etc) would try to make money by charging stalkers for a in-most-cases safe rest. Of course, another thing that cant be a game mechanic, as this would likely make players just AFK or try to play in the darkness like its Clear Sky. Game is unplayable without night vision. Additionally, box stashes in settlements, eg. the Bar or Skadowsk would likely have to be rented, as otherwise it wouldnt be profitable

A good example of a good "private" shelter, better than you might think, is Streloks Group Hideout. It is first of all lacking of anomalies and radiation, it is underground, and it does seem likely that the grenade trap (SoC Doctor meeting) was used. Now, you might think that Streloks Hideout had this major flaw of grenades potentially running out and a "huge faction base-able location" just over it. One thing that you might not realize is that upon entering the main room (the only accessible one in the trilogy), there is a locked door to the right. If we assume that the group found a way to control it, lock it, etc (as we know what Fang abilities were, and tinkering with doors was one of them), then they could have anything there, simple as

TLDR + other lesser things:

This all comes down to the fact that an average stalker:

Would either be on the move, have a set sleeping location that technically isnt his or have an extremely hidden hideout. Stalkers who do tasks in a certain area (ex. Loners doing tasks for Duty to make a living) could or could not have "a guaranteed sleeping place, of worse quality but still"

Have little to no personal items on him. This includes clothes (underwear?), hygiene items (if we assume that brushing your teeth without toothpaste is worth it) etc. We could exclude "zone-srvival-heulpful" items, such as lighters, others tools etc

If one fancies a good sleep every night, then they would have to make money, either from trade or finishing quests/contracts

Gun likely looted from a body, may or may not be kept for longer and upgraded (switching is always an option)

Major factions likely have contracts or trade Zone Goods™ for ammunition

I do wonder if shadier businesses would employ stalkers to either loot a body or straight-up kill/threaten a exoskeleton-wearing stalker (as of 2012)

Wouldnt own much "useable" goods, as in, those that can run out. Food is a necessity, so thats a different thing

Yeah.

Another post will likely be about health of an average stalker, which includes diet and possible injuries (+ their treatment)

#s.t.a.l.k.e.r.#s.t.a.l.k.e.r #s.t.a.l.k.e.r shadow of chernobyl #streloks group #<- mentioned and praised for hideout choice #hopefully not a nothingburger #legends of the zone #s.t.a.l.k.e.r. OG trilogy #s.t.a.l.k.e.r OG trilogy #stalker clear sky #s.t.a.l.k.e.r. clear sky #long post #“my fav is []” GIVE THEM A BATH #trutheryapping #Truthergigayapping

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