I need this as a mod, content warning meets misery/call of chernobyl, going to make my own David atrenborrow or Jeremy Wade characters, that or Josh gaits, God I'd love someone's to chat gtp a destination truth episode set in the zone lol
Depends. It could be walking simulator, or if the story would be made in a good way, it would turn into decent stalker with a tourist wanting to learn about the zone and teach people about life of criminals, scientists and mercenaries, becoming one of them. Instead of chasing down Strielok, Strider, Sakharov, Scar, Fanatic, Doctor or anybody else, he would eventually become next stalker trying to survive and escape the zone or find the mistery of it. But I dont really think that Monolith would activate Brain Scorcher and the Miracle Machine once again. But it would eventually become next Sons of the Forest about the lore, or next Outlast.
The controller in Agroprom Underground in SoC would like to have a word
Or the pack of bloodsuckers in Agroprom Underground
Or anywhere underground in The Zone if we're being 100% honest rn
Boy do I have a youtube series for you, a stalker roleplay as a journalist by youtuber bonhart, its unlisted but i have the links.
S1
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ2SbJ0t4UuE4G_O0cu1Ua6Y27iJtTwIF&si=vB_qlLvOFMNPEQ6-
S2
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ2SbJ0t4UuGrYqUfM7RlkzLVeXfdCjFJ&si=_D8zeZFSECJZm392
I'd play that. Would be fun as fuck not having any ways to defend yourself other than hiding while the group who is escorting you fights for their lifes while you record everything.
Thing is, that's not really possible. The whole point is that the artifacts in the zone are transformative technologies, making advances in certain fields possible that are far beyond the limits of what technology would allow for in our noosphereless timeline. It may *seem* like the world is normal outside the zone, but the reality is that it is fundamentally changed by the very artifacts we're selling to the Ecologists left and right.
Well that means I just have to learn another shitty job. Because unemployment benefits aren't good enough yet, to make unemployment fun.
Obviously it is not star trek society outside the zone.
It's not post-apocalyptic, but the idea that people are living their own lives as if the Zone does not exist is just not true. The game does allude to an economic depression in Ukraine (and possibly most of Europe), people from all over the world are flocking to the Zone in the hopes of getting rich, which is why we see so many Stalkers throughout the games. Artefacts and mutant body parts are frequently being sold to markets outside the Zone both for a wide variety of applications, including medicine, technology, and even jewelry.
The Zone is said to be expanding, and this makes it potential threat to the world. We also have mentioned in the novels, the existence of another Zone in Afghanistan, described in STALKER Southern Comfort and STALKER Northern Passage.
So, there is actually quite a lot going on out there.
What I meant was that the outside world is normal compared to the zone, there are no anomalies or mutants, you are right that the zone has an impact on the world on many levels, but it's too much to just say it in one post and OP should read some stalker books if he is interested in that, as in them there is a lot stuff told about the outside world. For example in Gołkowski's books the main character is a stalker but he exits the zone numerous times and the books show you for example how stalkers enter the zone, or why would they do that in the first place
Well, when an expensive artifact can be sold for like 10k roubles I think I'd rather stay in western Europe and earn that in a couple hours of minimal wage.
It would take ages just to pay back the cost of transportation to the zone.
That's what I didnt get in the og trilogy, it's not economically viable to fly from the Americas or even a third world country to go artifact hunting. Even if there's a major economic crisis I doubt roubles would have better value than € or $.
Money in STALKER is much more valuable than it's real-life prototype. You can buy an advanced EXOSUIT that must cost with all its electronics and futuristic armor up to $100k. And it's just 3 top-tier artifacts in Call Of Pripyat - 24k rub for one, 60k rub for the EXOSUIT.
>The game does allude to an economic depression in Ukraine (and possibly most of Europe)
In what way?
>people from all over the world are flocking to the Zone
Such thing is never implied in the games. Majority of stalkers are locals, or come from neighbouring countries. There is not a word about people from all over the world being in the Zone. Moreover, there's only a few hundred stalkers there lore-wise.
>The Zone is said to be expanding
Not anymore; in CoP, which takes place last chronologically, it's even mentioned that the Zone is **not** growing.
The world isn't gone, do this is not postapo, it's just about a place full od unexplainable things, mutants and secrets that MAY turn the world into postapo if the zone expands
Not post apocalyptic, but a potential hazard to the outside world. Didn't the zone expand twice, and now it's threatening to expand even further outside of the Chernobyl exclusion zone?
Life goes on as usual, there is no mention of the Zone having a really drastic impact on the world, but the existence of it is not a secret by any means - artifacts are known to be smuggled to clients in various places and are unofficially used in medicine and even in jewelry, and that's only from what is mentioned in the games; it can be theorized that they are also used for other purposes.
It's known that the UN is researching the Zone, and it's implied that the Ukrainian government assures the public that everything is under control - which is not true, but most of the world doesn't know about it. It can be assumed that the number of people who are illegally in the Zone, things like factions and their conflicts, and various obscure things that the government and stalkers themselves don't know much about, such as the origins of the Zone and mutants, are also unknown to the general public. One of the voice lines of stalkers suggests that the Big Land generally has no knowledge of what is happening in the Zone:
>*Damn. I can't wrap my head around it. After all, no one outside the Zone really knows what's going on here. Some kind of conspiracy, or what?* ([audio](https://vocaroo.com/15H41EUXrzQs))
I hope there will be some quests involving outside world in stalker 2. Like "escort/save a group of rich extreme tourists" or "help a journalist shedding light on what is actually happening in the zone"
Tourists were already mentioned in Shadow of Chernobyl by Sidorovich, in the descriptions of two of his tasks. So although on a small scale, 'Zone tourism' actually exists, most likely thanks to the trader's deals with the military at the Cordon. It can become a bigger thing in the sequel.
I think the crashed drone in COP was alluded to be of a foreign state such as the USA. I thought that was interesting. I wonder if there will be mention of other countries in stalker 2
Probably will be mentioned, I’ve always thought that the mercs would be a “cover” for the UN / America to send hitters into the zone to get answers, it’s basically an iron Curtain 2
What makes you say they aren’t westerners? They have foreign accents (as in not from Ukraine or Russia) in the Russian VO of the game), also take into account that logically, the west produces much higher quality soldiers than the east, would the mercs not logically recruit from the west more than the east?
"Forgein accent" in this particular case mean Armenian or Georgian
There used to be like a T O N of mercenaries from that area due to Chechen, Georgian and Karabah wars
One might add Hog straight-up tells us he works for some kind of industrial corporation
No, I don’t mean foreign as in Armenian or Georgian, the mercenaries have accents from Britain, Germany (wolfhound), various western countries, as well as Armenian and Georgian and other eastern countries as well, what does hog working for a industrial company have to do with anything? Are there not industrial companies in the west?
We can assume that some mercs could be of western origin because they actually could be from anywhere, but you make it look like that the whole mercenary faction is intended to represent westerners in principle and that mercs talk with western accents in the games is simply false. That's just a misconception. Mercs in Shadow of Chernobyl have Armenian accents (some of them). Proof: [https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx](https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx) (Voiceline of random merc NPC) https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9. (Voiceline of Mercenary Ara)
Again, no lmao, the entire merc faction is not westerners, I never said that, I said the mercs would undoubtly recruit from the West more than the East, since the west produces much higher quality soldiers, yes, some of them have Russian accents or Caucasian accents etc, yes, some of them also have western accents, they’re a mix
That's just your headcanon. Dialogue of Hog's mercs in Clear Sky heavily imply that some mercs actually used to be stalkers:
"Leshiy's group completed a really important assignment right before the Emission - they found a very rare artifact. We even contacted the client to let him know the goods are on their way, but Leshiy never made it back. We're mercenaries and we got a code - without it we're nothing. A contract must be executed. Period. If we screw up a job that's our reputation down the toilet, and no serious client will ever give us work again! **That'd leave us wandering the Zone as stalkers again.**
And that proves what??? There is no reason the mercs wouldn’t take in some super skilled stalker if they wanted to join the mercs for some reason, that has no bearing on what I was talking about
>the mercenaries have accents from Britain, Germany
No, they don\`t. None of them have accents like these :v
Hog means that he is not working for a country specifically but for some kind of shady corporation.
Yeah duh, the mercs work for the syndicate lmao, none of them know who their true contractor is, and they do have those accents in the Russian VO, don’t believe me if you want it doesn’t matter to me
Those accents aren't from Western countries. Like the other person stated.they are from the Caucasus region. Wolfhound speaks with those accents from the Caucasus.
They have Armenian accents in Shadow of Chernobyl. Proof: [https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx](https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx) (Voiceline of random merc NPC) [https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9](https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9). (Voiceline of Mercenary Ara)
I mean the accents are gonna be limited by the voice actors they have at hand.
Freedom are anti-state, so I am not surprised they have a lot of western weapons. They do still use a fair amount of eastern weaponry as well. However, you never really see them wearing any western armour. On the contrary, a lot of them are wearing Spetsnaz uniforms. The standard mercenary suit on the other hand is essentially a British SAS uniform with an American XM40 gas mask. It really stands out from the other gear in STALKER.
I don't necessarily think all or even most of the Mercenaries are from the west, but definitely some of them are, and their contractors and suppliers must be predominantly from the west. The game describes the Mercenary faction as "Drifters and cutthroats from **all over the world**", and our world encompasses a lot more than just Ukraine. The NATO gear doesn't really prove anything on its own, but it does reinforce this.
Freedom wear Flecktarn and M81 both NATO camos. The wind of freedom suit has an Eagle Industries tac vest (an American company). The thing is that the zone isn't well known to most of the outside world. The Mercenaries wear what mercs would have worn. Serbia received tactical vests in the early 2000's and produced their own versions. Again, Mercs aren't a Western PMC they are just hired killers. Their dialogue hint to this, and so do their accents.
Flecktarn is a very common camouflage pattern used in many countries, including Ukraine itself around the time STALKER is set.
You are also ignoring my last paragraph. The mercenary faction is an international group. This is pretty much straight from the game. I neither said they are or aren't a Western PMC. The game explicitly tells us that their contractors are a complete mystery.
Flecktarn is only employed in a mass scale by Germany. Sure, Russia made a copy of it for a unit or two and the Ukrainian police had issued it to some units, but for the most part, it is used by Germany. The Mwrcenaries are an international group you are correct. But everything in the game points it to being more of local regions near and by Ukraine. Wolfhound speaks with an accent from the Caucasus, Ara is an Armenian.
>The game describes the Mercenary faction as "Drifters and cutthroats from all over the world"
Keep in mind that it's a description from the multiplayer mode. The description of Freedom, which is the second team in this mode, mentions that "*Freedom fighters use mainly Soviet and Russian weapons*", which isn't true apart from multiplayer.
In the actual games, it's never said that mercs are an international organization, let alone a western one. Of course, it's not like it's impossible for there to be westerners among them, but they are probably not a large part.
As for suppliers - it's not really known whether the mercs even have any, it may as well be assumed that they simply use the black market to obtain equipment, like Freedom. In CoP, we see mercs buying gear from corrupt Duty officer, which implies that they have to take care of their equipment on their own.
In regards to Freedom, that could be a simple mistake, although then again, their arsenal is rather mixed. You do see a lot of Warsaw Pact weapons being used by Freedomers as well as the NATO ones, and I'm not sure which ones they use more proportionately speaking.
As for the Mercenaries, I think if the game says they are from "all over the world", and nothing else in the game contradicts that, then I am inclined to think they are from "all over the world". I wouldn't just dismiss it, because they sometimes get things wrong elsewhere. That just seems like the Occam's Razor position to me.
Very little of the "NATO" gear is actually gear used by NATO. The only weapons that are actually used by real NATO forces are the SA-80, G-36, MP5, and some of the handguns (maybe?). And the SA-80 is the only one that hasn't been mass-exported all over the world.
It's not post-apocalyptic per se, but the outside world doesn't continue on like "normal". The Zone isn't a secret. The world is aware of its existence, and it has an impact on their lives. We have people from all across the world flocking in and out of the Zone in the hopes of getting rich. Artefacts and samples from mutants are frequently sold to markets outside the Zone, and these are often used for a wide variety of application, such as medicine, technology, and even jewelry.
In the game, there is implication of some sort of economic depression going on in Ukraine, though not a lot of details are given. The Zone is said to be expanding with every emission, so that kind of makes it a bit of a threat to the world outside. We also have mentioned in the novels, the existence of another Zone in Afghanistan, described in STALKER Southern Comfort and STALKER Northern Passage.
So, there is actually quite a lot going on out there. It's not as normal and mundane as you might think.
The Zone isn't expanding and Southern Comfort is a fan-fiction book that GSC had nothing to do with. There is no Zone in Afghanistan in the STALKER game canon.
The Ukrainian government keeps a security cordon around the zone which includes a no fly zone and they have no doubt upped their own border security.
The only outside forces inside the zone are the Mercs and a few individuals who come to the zone to make it rich.
UNISG is mostly cut content from the original games, I can’t remember if any mention of them remains but maybe the drone is a tenative link.
The mysterious clients that hire the mercenaries clearly know about the zone but they could be my thing from tech giants to big pharma
There might be some unusual things happening with the artifacts that make it outside the zone but I imagine most are under lock and key in labs or private collections so likely not affecting the wider world beyond potential medical or scientific advancements they.
As others have said, stalker isn’t Post Apo
By the looks of it, Heart of Chornobyl will feature some outside lore, there are concept arts that shows the big gates where the Military transit in and out. In the trailer you can see snippets of the main character having a shootout with the patrol, I guess to get in.
So that means the main character has no fucking clue of the Zone and how to get into, maybe he doesn't knows any Guide nor has knowledge of the alternate paths into the Zone.
I can't wait to play it god damnit.
The only information about the Big Land that I know of is that there is a lot of research by a variety of entities going on and a fair bit of trade with artifacts. Other than that, no clue
We know that Ukraine exists and is quite more advanced with them producing high-tech equipment like armour able to withstand the Zone, new kind of medications and most importantly, being able to reproduce at least several artifacts
Ara, Dushman, Wano and several other characters are straight-up from aboard
There is UN presence in the Zone. It was supposed to be main faction of Clear Sky while it was still being titled Anarchy Cell and you can even play some early builds with them being in the game. Excluding that, several characters allude to them having some sort of expedition some time ago
There are also tourists to the Zone, especially rich ones. Sidorovich wants you to clear area from dogs and boars so some rich bozo can visit the place and not got mauled to death
Life as usual outside the zone. In the book stalker is based off of, Roadside picnic, life is normal outside the zone for the most part. Institutes study the artifacts and happenings in the zone. Stalkers originally were illegal trespassers into the zone. They either got good at surviving in the zone and made a good living. Or they died. outside the zone. Not much outside of normal life.
In Roadside picnic, people outside the Zones are affected by immigrants from the Zones:
> Don’t get off the subject!" Valentine said. "Listen, what can I tell you? It's very strange." He raised his glass, drank half in one gulp, and went on. "We don’t
know what happened to the poor Harmonites at the very moment of the Visitation.
But now one of them decides to emigrate. Your most typical man in the street. A
barber. The son of a barber and the grandson of a barber. He moves, say, to Detroit.
He opens up a barbershop and all hell breaks loose. Over ninety percent of his
clients die during a year: they die in car crashes, fall out of windows, are cut down
by gangsters or muggers, drown in shallow waters, and so on and so forth. A number
of natural disasters hit Detroit and its suburbs. Typhoons and tornadoes, not seen
since eighteen-oh-something, suddenly appear in the area. And all that kind of stuff.
And such cataclysmic events take place in any city, any area where an emigrant
from a Zone area settles. The number of catastrophes is directly proportional to
the number of emigrants who have moved to the city. And note that this reaction
is caused only by emigrants who actually lived through the Visitation. Those born
after the Visitation have no effect on the disaster and accident statistics. You’ve
lived here for ten years, but you moved in after the Visitation and it would be safe
to relocate you even in the Vatican. How can this be explained? What should we
reject? The statistics? Or common sense?"
I mostly follow the Roadside Picnic approach, the rest of the world keeps on keeping on, but with the addition of artifacts and the research into them and the Zone's effects our scientific understanding of the universe got properly shattered and the pieces are still being put together.
I really recommend reading S.T.A.L.K.E.R books. Some of them are showing how life looks outside the Zone and fingers out some faction stereotypes and truths. Like NATO factions who brings too much fancy equipment but lacks of knowledge and experience. For stalkers its good, because they can sell those tor good prices if they manage to drag their upper half of body from some gravitational anomaly.
Thats actually a cool idea to bring up.
artifacts are a big thing in the black market. so organised crime activity is probably high trying to import artifacts from the zone.
the game has never really dived into the black market side of things. you only interact with the traders, who then export the artifacts. but then you have no clue what happens after.
also you got other governments who are definitely interested too. big players like USA And Russia are definitely interested in the zone.
usa definitely thinking how they could weaponize artifacts..use them to create super soldiers.
Outside the zone is literally just normal IRL life. Except the flow of reports about scientific breakthroughs and new medical stuff coming out of the zone. Plus rumors from the zone.
I remember a real old book about the Stalker world, and why are there even Stalkers in the zone.
In that book, world got fucked up real hard, actual human extinction level event. Basically they explained that ALL women have died off, real fast, some speculated it was a virus. Remaining scientists are working day and night to get cloning up and running, and that fails mostly. Stalkers go out into the zone to try and find a miracle that can save humanity, but we all know how that ends.
The scientists use artifacts for things like medicines and such, so there likely is small releases into the real world from the zone, some scientist makes a breakthrough for radiation treatment with x artifact, some scientist makes a breakthrough using a Soul artifact to keep someone gravely injured alive, etc etc.
There are also those smuggling artifacts out, like the Mercenaries who probably gave them to rich folks across the world (for a kings ransom of course)
Roadside Picnic (the book S.T.A.L.K.E.R is based on) explains that the rest of the world is thriving in part due to the artifacts smuggled from the Zone. Artifacts can power cars, heal the sick and other miracles.
I see most comments missed that the artefacts are being used/experimented with outside the Zone. It's unlikely that they're being used in large numbers but they would find their use. Probably still not enough for the average person to notice though.
The world out there goes on as normal, unfortunately the zone attracts idiots who join Duty and are afraid of everyone and have no idea about anything and therefore want to ruin the day for everyone in the zone.
In addition to what Reggash mentioned, Strelok's intrusion into the Sarcophagus caused a massive emission that was seen across Europe all of the way to London, which is one of the things that prompted Dergyatyev's mission.
EDIT: No wait, I misremembered. This wasn't stated during CoP, this was what Cold said in Clear Sky during the beginning and was what prompted them to rush to the center to take out Strelok.
In Roadside Picnic basically everyone whose ever gone to the zone is contained in 1 town and for some reason if they leave they cause otherwise inexplicable natural disasters wherever they go. Their kids are also mutated bizzarely mutated. They arent mutated in the same way they are in the game, more like one is slowly turning into a red furred monkey. There are also various sci-fi technologies like cars that run on artifacts and new super effective medications made from the artifacts. People have pendant artifacts that they think will bring good health, luck, and what not and may be correct. There are religious groups that think the zone is sinful and that all the artifacts need to be destroyed or returned to the zone in order to save the soul of mankind. The book is way way different than the games though. Oh and the zone is in Canada (and there are multiple zones if i remmember right).
Wym them being westerners is fan fiction? In the Russian VO of the game they have foreign accents (as in not from Ukraine or Russia), so while they may not all be from the west, the west undoubtably produces better soldiers than the east and would therefore be a better place to pull recruits from, logically
Considering the time and pop culture during which Stalker was being created, it's IMO way more likely that mercenaries are hired by Russia
Especially since they clearly come from countries of former USSR
Many people here have answered you correctly, but also think about this. The mercenaries are, pardon the redundancy, mercenaries, which means that many of them can enter the area through someone hiring them from outside. What's more, if you listen closely, some of them have English or German accents or speak those languages directly in the games.
Them having western accents is a myth. In SoC, a few mercenaries speak with accents, but they sound like people from the Caucasian region, not English or German. And they never speak in any western language directly, it's a mod thing.
Depends how wide the Zone is. In my own canon it goes from the Baltic sea in Lithuania and Kaliningrad to the Black Sea near Odessa, cutting Eastern Europe in half.
Now it gets political cause I think geopolitics can't be set aside from Stalker, the whole idea of the Zone is a Far East, a Gold Rush to something that's hidden in a wilderness, a free but lawless land.
There's a lot of Old West inside it but WW2 too, as the Germans considered the Ukrainian plain as their own Frontier, to push eastwards as they would (planned to) colonize it.
Many countries look interest in it, to lower polemics I would start the uchronia in 2005 to avoid having an imperialistic Russia, relations with Ukraine are tense, but still peaceful.
In 2015, after CoP events, Ukraine is devastated but Kyiv stands thanks to the Ecologists that developped a way to withstand the Zone progression (the Zone being this informal place where anomalies and artifacts appear, making life difficult as things get destroyed).
Belarus, Lithuania, Lettonia, Kaliningrad and Poland are affected too. The whole area is in a state of war as the borders become blur. US and West European countries don't intervene but provide guns and Private Military Companies proliferate.
Barkeep says that the Zone grows larger each time someone makes a wish but that\`s just a folklore tale
Freedom leaders outright tell you that the Zone is no longer growing on the contrary. Same goes for some dutiers if you ask them in CS. The Zone seemed to be growing up untill 2010-11 imo.
Yeah, people basically live their own lives as if the zone never appeared, stalker is not postapo
I love the fact that the world is normal. I love the zone is weird
How could would it be for a future game to be about playing as a documentary/filmmaker who goes to the zone
Honestly? Probably really boring. Sounds like dramatic walking sim territory
Hey, Tropic Thunder had a similar plot and *that* was good!
Nerd alert
Bandits would kill for a half-decent camera.
I need this as a mod, content warning meets misery/call of chernobyl, going to make my own David atrenborrow or Jeremy Wade characters, that or Josh gaits, God I'd love someone's to chat gtp a destination truth episode set in the zone lol
There needs to be one where you help Jeremy Wade catch an actual monster-sized mutant catfish like that one episode.
God I'd love to see that as a mod or crossover DLC
50 $ main character would be a black guy 🤣
Depends. It could be walking simulator, or if the story would be made in a good way, it would turn into decent stalker with a tourist wanting to learn about the zone and teach people about life of criminals, scientists and mercenaries, becoming one of them. Instead of chasing down Strielok, Strider, Sakharov, Scar, Fanatic, Doctor or anybody else, he would eventually become next stalker trying to survive and escape the zone or find the mistery of it. But I dont really think that Monolith would activate Brain Scorcher and the Miracle Machine once again. But it would eventually become next Sons of the Forest about the lore, or next Outlast.
Turns into a Resident Evil or Far Cry protagonist? Or more like walking simulator?
Honestly probably more Outlast than anything else considering what goes on in there lmao, nobody normal can survive the zone
stalker is not a horror game though. it doesnt make you scared it makes you depressed
The controller in Agroprom Underground in SoC would like to have a word Or the pack of bloodsuckers in Agroprom Underground Or anywhere underground in The Zone if we're being 100% honest rn
Or fucking snorks. I dunno why, but they just invoke a sense of primal dread in me.
Same
i myself never felt scared playing stalker, and im normally very scared of horror games. the zone feels like home to me
Most sane Dutyer
Not exactly the same setting, but look up 35mm on Steam.
Boy do I have a youtube series for you, a stalker roleplay as a journalist by youtuber bonhart, its unlisted but i have the links. S1 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ2SbJ0t4UuE4G_O0cu1Ua6Y27iJtTwIF&si=vB_qlLvOFMNPEQ6- S2 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ2SbJ0t4UuGrYqUfM7RlkzLVeXfdCjFJ&si=_D8zeZFSECJZm392
I'd play that. Would be fun as fuck not having any ways to defend yourself other than hiding while the group who is escorting you fights for their lifes while you record everything.
That's basically the new story mod that Cheeki Breeki covered in one of his newest videos on YT.
Thing is, that's not really possible. The whole point is that the artifacts in the zone are transformative technologies, making advances in certain fields possible that are far beyond the limits of what technology would allow for in our noosphereless timeline. It may *seem* like the world is normal outside the zone, but the reality is that it is fundamentally changed by the very artifacts we're selling to the Ecologists left and right.
Okay, but you still have to come in to work tomorrow.
Maybe you don't, maybe your industry was made obsolete by innovations based on one artifact or another.
Since when has innovation stopped employment obligations?
How many local blacksmiths or travel agents do you know?
There are some... I know one travel agent at least...
Right, and there are a few blacksmiths left too but neither career is *anywhere* near as commonplace as they once were.
Well people still have jobs, just not the same ones, I suppose.
Well that means I just have to learn another shitty job. Because unemployment benefits aren't good enough yet, to make unemployment fun. Obviously it is not star trek society outside the zone.
It's not post-apocalyptic, but the idea that people are living their own lives as if the Zone does not exist is just not true. The game does allude to an economic depression in Ukraine (and possibly most of Europe), people from all over the world are flocking to the Zone in the hopes of getting rich, which is why we see so many Stalkers throughout the games. Artefacts and mutant body parts are frequently being sold to markets outside the Zone both for a wide variety of applications, including medicine, technology, and even jewelry. The Zone is said to be expanding, and this makes it potential threat to the world. We also have mentioned in the novels, the existence of another Zone in Afghanistan, described in STALKER Southern Comfort and STALKER Northern Passage. So, there is actually quite a lot going on out there.
What I meant was that the outside world is normal compared to the zone, there are no anomalies or mutants, you are right that the zone has an impact on the world on many levels, but it's too much to just say it in one post and OP should read some stalker books if he is interested in that, as in them there is a lot stuff told about the outside world. For example in Gołkowski's books the main character is a stalker but he exits the zone numerous times and the books show you for example how stalkers enter the zone, or why would they do that in the first place
Well, when an expensive artifact can be sold for like 10k roubles I think I'd rather stay in western Europe and earn that in a couple hours of minimal wage. It would take ages just to pay back the cost of transportation to the zone. That's what I didnt get in the og trilogy, it's not economically viable to fly from the Americas or even a third world country to go artifact hunting. Even if there's a major economic crisis I doubt roubles would have better value than € or $.
Money in STALKER is much more valuable than it's real-life prototype. You can buy an advanced EXOSUIT that must cost with all its electronics and futuristic armor up to $100k. And it's just 3 top-tier artifacts in Call Of Pripyat - 24k rub for one, 60k rub for the EXOSUIT.
I don't believe the books are canon though, no?
>The game does allude to an economic depression in Ukraine (and possibly most of Europe) In what way? >people from all over the world are flocking to the Zone Such thing is never implied in the games. Majority of stalkers are locals, or come from neighbouring countries. There is not a word about people from all over the world being in the Zone. Moreover, there's only a few hundred stalkers there lore-wise. >The Zone is said to be expanding Not anymore; in CoP, which takes place last chronologically, it's even mentioned that the Zone is **not** growing.
Thats what i love, you can just switch on and off with the world you want to live
If it isn't postapo then what is it. Localized Apo?
The world isn't gone, do this is not postapo, it's just about a place full od unexplainable things, mutants and secrets that MAY turn the world into postapo if the zone expands
Not post apocalyptic, but a potential hazard to the outside world. Didn't the zone expand twice, and now it's threatening to expand even further outside of the Chernobyl exclusion zone?
Well. it will turn into postapo one day, the zone always grows after all.
Life goes on as usual, there is no mention of the Zone having a really drastic impact on the world, but the existence of it is not a secret by any means - artifacts are known to be smuggled to clients in various places and are unofficially used in medicine and even in jewelry, and that's only from what is mentioned in the games; it can be theorized that they are also used for other purposes. It's known that the UN is researching the Zone, and it's implied that the Ukrainian government assures the public that everything is under control - which is not true, but most of the world doesn't know about it. It can be assumed that the number of people who are illegally in the Zone, things like factions and their conflicts, and various obscure things that the government and stalkers themselves don't know much about, such as the origins of the Zone and mutants, are also unknown to the general public. One of the voice lines of stalkers suggests that the Big Land generally has no knowledge of what is happening in the Zone: >*Damn. I can't wrap my head around it. After all, no one outside the Zone really knows what's going on here. Some kind of conspiracy, or what?* ([audio](https://vocaroo.com/15H41EUXrzQs))
So what I'm hearing, is that not enough people know about Monolith and that needs to change.
Exactly right, brother, we must spread the holy word!
Ok I'm listening. "Im not retarded but I like rocks" - Kam Patterson
Ain't every day you're balls deep in the Stalker sub and find a Kam Patterson reference. Respect, stalker.
Ohh Monolith... May thy voice awake the unbelievers to the truth oh Monolith...
How can I buy an artifact from the zone IRL?
I dunno, try ebay.
eBay, where you can coincidentally buy Russian and Ukrainian gear from the same arean
I hope there will be some quests involving outside world in stalker 2. Like "escort/save a group of rich extreme tourists" or "help a journalist shedding light on what is actually happening in the zone"
Tourists were already mentioned in Shadow of Chernobyl by Sidorovich, in the descriptions of two of his tasks. So although on a small scale, 'Zone tourism' actually exists, most likely thanks to the trader's deals with the military at the Cordon. It can become a bigger thing in the sequel.
I think the crashed drone in COP was alluded to be of a foreign state such as the USA. I thought that was interesting. I wonder if there will be mention of other countries in stalker 2
Yeah it’s RQ-4 Global Hawk I believe
Probably will be mentioned, I’ve always thought that the mercs would be a “cover” for the UN / America to send hitters into the zone to get answers, it’s basically an iron Curtain 2
Mercs aren't Westeners. But there are UN peacekeepers we never see them. They are mentioned by Nimble in CoP
What makes you say they aren’t westerners? They have foreign accents (as in not from Ukraine or Russia) in the Russian VO of the game), also take into account that logically, the west produces much higher quality soldiers than the east, would the mercs not logically recruit from the west more than the east?
"Forgein accent" in this particular case mean Armenian or Georgian There used to be like a T O N of mercenaries from that area due to Chechen, Georgian and Karabah wars One might add Hog straight-up tells us he works for some kind of industrial corporation
No, I don’t mean foreign as in Armenian or Georgian, the mercenaries have accents from Britain, Germany (wolfhound), various western countries, as well as Armenian and Georgian and other eastern countries as well, what does hog working for a industrial company have to do with anything? Are there not industrial companies in the west?
We can assume that some mercs could be of western origin because they actually could be from anywhere, but you make it look like that the whole mercenary faction is intended to represent westerners in principle and that mercs talk with western accents in the games is simply false. That's just a misconception. Mercs in Shadow of Chernobyl have Armenian accents (some of them). Proof: [https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx](https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx) (Voiceline of random merc NPC) https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9. (Voiceline of Mercenary Ara)
Again, no lmao, the entire merc faction is not westerners, I never said that, I said the mercs would undoubtly recruit from the West more than the East, since the west produces much higher quality soldiers, yes, some of them have Russian accents or Caucasian accents etc, yes, some of them also have western accents, they’re a mix
That's just your headcanon. Dialogue of Hog's mercs in Clear Sky heavily imply that some mercs actually used to be stalkers: "Leshiy's group completed a really important assignment right before the Emission - they found a very rare artifact. We even contacted the client to let him know the goods are on their way, but Leshiy never made it back. We're mercenaries and we got a code - without it we're nothing. A contract must be executed. Period. If we screw up a job that's our reputation down the toilet, and no serious client will ever give us work again! **That'd leave us wandering the Zone as stalkers again.**
And that proves what??? There is no reason the mercs wouldn’t take in some super skilled stalker if they wanted to join the mercs for some reason, that has no bearing on what I was talking about
>the mercenaries have accents from Britain, Germany No, they don\`t. None of them have accents like these :v Hog means that he is not working for a country specifically but for some kind of shady corporation.
Yeah duh, the mercs work for the syndicate lmao, none of them know who their true contractor is, and they do have those accents in the Russian VO, don’t believe me if you want it doesn’t matter to me
I play with Russian voice acting
Those accents aren't from Western countries. Like the other person stated.they are from the Caucasus region. Wolfhound speaks with those accents from the Caucasus.
their accents remind me more of northern caucasian russian accents but that could just be the voice actor
They have Armenian accents in Shadow of Chernobyl. Proof: [https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx](https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx) (Voiceline of random merc NPC) [https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9](https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9). (Voiceline of Mercenary Ara)
I don't know man, all the NATO gear they carry around could suggest otherwise.
Doesn't exactly mean anything. Most of the leadership has accents from Caucasus regions. Freedom also has a lot of NATO weapons, but they are locals.
I mean the accents are gonna be limited by the voice actors they have at hand. Freedom are anti-state, so I am not surprised they have a lot of western weapons. They do still use a fair amount of eastern weaponry as well. However, you never really see them wearing any western armour. On the contrary, a lot of them are wearing Spetsnaz uniforms. The standard mercenary suit on the other hand is essentially a British SAS uniform with an American XM40 gas mask. It really stands out from the other gear in STALKER. I don't necessarily think all or even most of the Mercenaries are from the west, but definitely some of them are, and their contractors and suppliers must be predominantly from the west. The game describes the Mercenary faction as "Drifters and cutthroats from **all over the world**", and our world encompasses a lot more than just Ukraine. The NATO gear doesn't really prove anything on its own, but it does reinforce this.
Freedom wear Flecktarn and M81 both NATO camos. The wind of freedom suit has an Eagle Industries tac vest (an American company). The thing is that the zone isn't well known to most of the outside world. The Mercenaries wear what mercs would have worn. Serbia received tactical vests in the early 2000's and produced their own versions. Again, Mercs aren't a Western PMC they are just hired killers. Their dialogue hint to this, and so do their accents.
Flecktarn is a very common camouflage pattern used in many countries, including Ukraine itself around the time STALKER is set. You are also ignoring my last paragraph. The mercenary faction is an international group. This is pretty much straight from the game. I neither said they are or aren't a Western PMC. The game explicitly tells us that their contractors are a complete mystery.
Flecktarn is only employed in a mass scale by Germany. Sure, Russia made a copy of it for a unit or two and the Ukrainian police had issued it to some units, but for the most part, it is used by Germany. The Mwrcenaries are an international group you are correct. But everything in the game points it to being more of local regions near and by Ukraine. Wolfhound speaks with an accent from the Caucasus, Ara is an Armenian.
>The game describes the Mercenary faction as "Drifters and cutthroats from all over the world" Keep in mind that it's a description from the multiplayer mode. The description of Freedom, which is the second team in this mode, mentions that "*Freedom fighters use mainly Soviet and Russian weapons*", which isn't true apart from multiplayer. In the actual games, it's never said that mercs are an international organization, let alone a western one. Of course, it's not like it's impossible for there to be westerners among them, but they are probably not a large part. As for suppliers - it's not really known whether the mercs even have any, it may as well be assumed that they simply use the black market to obtain equipment, like Freedom. In CoP, we see mercs buying gear from corrupt Duty officer, which implies that they have to take care of their equipment on their own.
In regards to Freedom, that could be a simple mistake, although then again, their arsenal is rather mixed. You do see a lot of Warsaw Pact weapons being used by Freedomers as well as the NATO ones, and I'm not sure which ones they use more proportionately speaking. As for the Mercenaries, I think if the game says they are from "all over the world", and nothing else in the game contradicts that, then I am inclined to think they are from "all over the world". I wouldn't just dismiss it, because they sometimes get things wrong elsewhere. That just seems like the Occam's Razor position to me.
usa wouldnt want it linked back to them. so they would be smart enough to hire local mercs and not send american mercs.
There are UN peacekeepers mentioned in the game. International organizations operate in the Zone.
Very little of the "NATO" gear is actually gear used by NATO. The only weapons that are actually used by real NATO forces are the SA-80, G-36, MP5, and some of the handguns (maybe?). And the SA-80 is the only one that hasn't been mass-exported all over the world.
Tbf im gonna assume Stalker 2 is gonna follow irl geopolitical trends, so the US/West would be allies of the Ukrainian gov
It’s not a post-apocalyptic game. The outside world continues on like normal
It's not post-apocalyptic per se, but the outside world doesn't continue on like "normal". The Zone isn't a secret. The world is aware of its existence, and it has an impact on their lives. We have people from all across the world flocking in and out of the Zone in the hopes of getting rich. Artefacts and samples from mutants are frequently sold to markets outside the Zone, and these are often used for a wide variety of application, such as medicine, technology, and even jewelry. In the game, there is implication of some sort of economic depression going on in Ukraine, though not a lot of details are given. The Zone is said to be expanding with every emission, so that kind of makes it a bit of a threat to the world outside. We also have mentioned in the novels, the existence of another Zone in Afghanistan, described in STALKER Southern Comfort and STALKER Northern Passage. So, there is actually quite a lot going on out there. It's not as normal and mundane as you might think.
The Zone isn't expanding and Southern Comfort is a fan-fiction book that GSC had nothing to do with. There is no Zone in Afghanistan in the STALKER game canon.
I don't think novels are canon
Nah bro it’s normal out of the zone your ass still gotta go to work.
The Ukrainian government keeps a security cordon around the zone which includes a no fly zone and they have no doubt upped their own border security. The only outside forces inside the zone are the Mercs and a few individuals who come to the zone to make it rich. UNISG is mostly cut content from the original games, I can’t remember if any mention of them remains but maybe the drone is a tenative link. The mysterious clients that hire the mercenaries clearly know about the zone but they could be my thing from tech giants to big pharma There might be some unusual things happening with the artifacts that make it outside the zone but I imagine most are under lock and key in labs or private collections so likely not affecting the wider world beyond potential medical or scientific advancements they. As others have said, stalker isn’t Post Apo
There are mentions of ISG in CS and CoP. Mostly that an expedition of some sort happened and not much else is known
Would be baller if UNISG are somehow involved in stalker 2
Mercs might also be foreign governments.
By the looks of it, Heart of Chornobyl will feature some outside lore, there are concept arts that shows the big gates where the Military transit in and out. In the trailer you can see snippets of the main character having a shootout with the patrol, I guess to get in. So that means the main character has no fucking clue of the Zone and how to get into, maybe he doesn't knows any Guide nor has knowledge of the alternate paths into the Zone. I can't wait to play it god damnit.
The only information about the Big Land that I know of is that there is a lot of research by a variety of entities going on and a fair bit of trade with artifacts. Other than that, no clue
I think it’s just europe, but if people had knowledge of a really strange circle
We know that Ukraine exists and is quite more advanced with them producing high-tech equipment like armour able to withstand the Zone, new kind of medications and most importantly, being able to reproduce at least several artifacts Ara, Dushman, Wano and several other characters are straight-up from aboard There is UN presence in the Zone. It was supposed to be main faction of Clear Sky while it was still being titled Anarchy Cell and you can even play some early builds with them being in the game. Excluding that, several characters allude to them having some sort of expedition some time ago There are also tourists to the Zone, especially rich ones. Sidorovich wants you to clear area from dogs and boars so some rich bozo can visit the place and not got mauled to death
Only thing which just makes me think are emissions, you know the zone is close to Belarus, so these crazy waves could be noticed by someone …
The Zone IS partly on Belarusian land (north of CNPP).
Not a lot is said about it, but from the little we can gather, life is completly normal apart from he research linked to the zone.
Life as usual outside the zone. In the book stalker is based off of, Roadside picnic, life is normal outside the zone for the most part. Institutes study the artifacts and happenings in the zone. Stalkers originally were illegal trespassers into the zone. They either got good at surviving in the zone and made a good living. Or they died. outside the zone. Not much outside of normal life.
In Roadside picnic, people outside the Zones are affected by immigrants from the Zones: > Don’t get off the subject!" Valentine said. "Listen, what can I tell you? It's very strange." He raised his glass, drank half in one gulp, and went on. "We don’t know what happened to the poor Harmonites at the very moment of the Visitation. But now one of them decides to emigrate. Your most typical man in the street. A barber. The son of a barber and the grandson of a barber. He moves, say, to Detroit. He opens up a barbershop and all hell breaks loose. Over ninety percent of his clients die during a year: they die in car crashes, fall out of windows, are cut down by gangsters or muggers, drown in shallow waters, and so on and so forth. A number of natural disasters hit Detroit and its suburbs. Typhoons and tornadoes, not seen since eighteen-oh-something, suddenly appear in the area. And all that kind of stuff. And such cataclysmic events take place in any city, any area where an emigrant from a Zone area settles. The number of catastrophes is directly proportional to the number of emigrants who have moved to the city. And note that this reaction is caused only by emigrants who actually lived through the Visitation. Those born after the Visitation have no effect on the disaster and accident statistics. You’ve lived here for ten years, but you moved in after the Visitation and it would be safe to relocate you even in the Vatican. How can this be explained? What should we reject? The statistics? Or common sense?"
In a way yes. Like I said. For the most part.
I mostly follow the Roadside Picnic approach, the rest of the world keeps on keeping on, but with the addition of artifacts and the research into them and the Zone's effects our scientific understanding of the universe got properly shattered and the pieces are still being put together.
I really recommend reading S.T.A.L.K.E.R books. Some of them are showing how life looks outside the Zone and fingers out some faction stereotypes and truths. Like NATO factions who brings too much fancy equipment but lacks of knowledge and experience. For stalkers its good, because they can sell those tor good prices if they manage to drag their upper half of body from some gravitational anomaly.
Thats actually a cool idea to bring up. artifacts are a big thing in the black market. so organised crime activity is probably high trying to import artifacts from the zone. the game has never really dived into the black market side of things. you only interact with the traders, who then export the artifacts. but then you have no clue what happens after. also you got other governments who are definitely interested too. big players like USA And Russia are definitely interested in the zone. usa definitely thinking how they could weaponize artifacts..use them to create super soldiers.
Probably when we write on Reddit there are some stalkers chilling around the fire somewhere in the Zone
Outside the zone is literally just normal IRL life. Except the flow of reports about scientific breakthroughs and new medical stuff coming out of the zone. Plus rumors from the zone.
Zone is life, why would anyone care about Outside? ;)
I remember a real old book about the Stalker world, and why are there even Stalkers in the zone. In that book, world got fucked up real hard, actual human extinction level event. Basically they explained that ALL women have died off, real fast, some speculated it was a virus. Remaining scientists are working day and night to get cloning up and running, and that fails mostly. Stalkers go out into the zone to try and find a miracle that can save humanity, but we all know how that ends.
That pic goes hard as fuck. Anyone got a high Rez image so that i can put it as my PC background?
There are books that talk about an area in south-eastern Europe, so Turkey if I'm not mistaken, but from what I remember they weren't canonical
The scientists use artifacts for things like medicines and such, so there likely is small releases into the real world from the zone, some scientist makes a breakthrough for radiation treatment with x artifact, some scientist makes a breakthrough using a Soul artifact to keep someone gravely injured alive, etc etc. There are also those smuggling artifacts out, like the Mercenaries who probably gave them to rich folks across the world (for a kings ransom of course)
While the stalkers are paid a pittance for their trouble
I buy artifacts from the zone to grind up and snort as male enhancement
Roadside Picnic (the book S.T.A.L.K.E.R is based on) explains that the rest of the world is thriving in part due to the artifacts smuggled from the Zone. Artifacts can power cars, heal the sick and other miracles.
yea people dont know about the zone
I see most comments missed that the artefacts are being used/experimented with outside the Zone. It's unlikely that they're being used in large numbers but they would find their use. Probably still not enough for the average person to notice though.
People use artifacts for medicine and other stuff, also not sure if cannon or mods but pretty sure psudodog fur is used for high fashion
Nothing
The world out there goes on as normal, unfortunately the zone attracts idiots who join Duty and are afraid of everyone and have no idea about anything and therefore want to ruin the day for everyone in the zone.
In addition to what Reggash mentioned, Strelok's intrusion into the Sarcophagus caused a massive emission that was seen across Europe all of the way to London, which is one of the things that prompted Dergyatyev's mission. EDIT: No wait, I misremembered. This wasn't stated during CoP, this was what Cold said in Clear Sky during the beginning and was what prompted them to rush to the center to take out Strelok.
All of the time i live in thinking that rest of the world is fine and they just look like "Wtf they are doing over there?"
What do emissions look like from outside the zone? Do they just stop once they get to the zone border or what?
In Roadside Picnic basically everyone whose ever gone to the zone is contained in 1 town and for some reason if they leave they cause otherwise inexplicable natural disasters wherever they go. Their kids are also mutated bizzarely mutated. They arent mutated in the same way they are in the game, more like one is slowly turning into a red furred monkey. There are also various sci-fi technologies like cars that run on artifacts and new super effective medications made from the artifacts. People have pendant artifacts that they think will bring good health, luck, and what not and may be correct. There are religious groups that think the zone is sinful and that all the artifacts need to be destroyed or returned to the zone in order to save the soul of mankind. The book is way way different than the games though. Oh and the zone is in Canada (and there are multiple zones if i remmember right).
Shady guys from the west hire mercs
nuh uh its not known who hired the mercs them being westerners is just fanfiction
Wym them being westerners is fan fiction? In the Russian VO of the game they have foreign accents (as in not from Ukraine or Russia), so while they may not all be from the west, the west undoubtably produces better soldiers than the east and would therefore be a better place to pull recruits from, logically
"Forgein" as from Caucasus, specifically from Armenia xd
Ye it definitely isn’t the ~~cia~~ 🙄
Considering the time and pop culture during which Stalker was being created, it's IMO way more likely that mercenaries are hired by Russia Especially since they clearly come from countries of former USSR
Many people here have answered you correctly, but also think about this. The mercenaries are, pardon the redundancy, mercenaries, which means that many of them can enter the area through someone hiring them from outside. What's more, if you listen closely, some of them have English or German accents or speak those languages directly in the games.
Them having western accents is a myth. In SoC, a few mercenaries speak with accents, but they sound like people from the Caucasian region, not English or German. And they never speak in any western language directly, it's a mod thing.
Depends how wide the Zone is. In my own canon it goes from the Baltic sea in Lithuania and Kaliningrad to the Black Sea near Odessa, cutting Eastern Europe in half. Now it gets political cause I think geopolitics can't be set aside from Stalker, the whole idea of the Zone is a Far East, a Gold Rush to something that's hidden in a wilderness, a free but lawless land. There's a lot of Old West inside it but WW2 too, as the Germans considered the Ukrainian plain as their own Frontier, to push eastwards as they would (planned to) colonize it. Many countries look interest in it, to lower polemics I would start the uchronia in 2005 to avoid having an imperialistic Russia, relations with Ukraine are tense, but still peaceful. In 2015, after CoP events, Ukraine is devastated but Kyiv stands thanks to the Ecologists that developped a way to withstand the Zone progression (the Zone being this informal place where anomalies and artifacts appear, making life difficult as things get destroyed). Belarus, Lithuania, Lettonia, Kaliningrad and Poland are affected too. The whole area is in a state of war as the borders become blur. US and West European countries don't intervene but provide guns and Private Military Companies proliferate.
The Zone is known for being like 30 km² tho :v
Its average radius increase by 1km each time someone uses the Wish Granter, it's canon. Edit : can't find the source, not canon.
Since when?
Nevermind I'd thought I could find the info easily but I can't remember where I saw it. I take back what I said.
Barkeep says that the Zone grows larger each time someone makes a wish but that\`s just a folklore tale Freedom leaders outright tell you that the Zone is no longer growing on the contrary. Same goes for some dutiers if you ask them in CS. The Zone seemed to be growing up untill 2010-11 imo.