Tell your stories Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Hello, and please forgive my english i haven't used it on a while.

I started playing Misery for the first time almost to months ago and before playing i watched the whole gallery and i read many of the reviews on the mod page. Most of them where complaining about being shot, being killed by mutants, that everything is expensive... and more. But since the begining of my playthrough i understood that, in this game there is a set of unspoken rules and you must adapt to them, and once you do, then you really enjoy it. So i had and idea, we could share some stories, something that happened to you that made you stick to the game and enjoy it.

I will start and i hope some of you likes the idea.

"I had just started my game as a Recon. After a complete failure in the bloodsucker nest quest and Grouse being ripped apart by the mutants just after starting the quest i was desperate for money. So i accepted Owl's quest to the Waste Processing Station. I was really poor by the time, almost had no bullets and ate only mutant meat cooked in a wooden stove, every day i suffered from acidity and radiation poisoning due to terrible foods and cheap vodka.

I prepared myself this time, i had learned the rules of the game and understood how things worked in the zone. I got a couple of anty-personal mines and an old rifle and then i watched and waited. For days (in-game) i planned the attack. Did some simple quests and hunted some mutants during those days but everyday i went close to the Processing Station and watched. I watched the mercenaries and after some days of planning and waiting i learned everything about them, i knew how many men they had, i knew their guns, and how many exosqueletons they had i also knew their patrols and their rutines. Finally, after i got a simple night vision devise i was ready... and i waited some more.

It was a pitch black night and it was raining heavily "the perfect moment" i thought while leaving Skadovsk wearing only a trench coat and a gasmask and armed only with a TOZ-66, and an old (and in really bad condition) SVD with only 3 bullets and 2 anti-personal mines i went to Preobrazhensky Bridge. From there i saw the flashlights in some mercenarie's heads i aimed carefully, i couln't afford to miss. One shot, one kill and the flashlights dissapear one by one while the mercenaries return fire. Soon the three bullets are gone and so i am. I dropped the rifle so i could run faster and i sprinted across the swamp while the mercs started looking for me, i surrounded them without being seen nor heard and soon i was inside the plant. There was a sentry at the entrance to the right of the building, i hid and waited for him to come close and my knife went right to his throat.

I was inside and moved fast and silently. I went to one of the entrances and placed a mine there and kept moving looking for the documents owl wanted. After a while i heard something upstairs, a man wearing an exosqueleton and holding a shotgun was waiting up there and he had saw me... but i was faster and shot rigth to his head with my old TOZ, he was Hook, one of the mercenaries leaders. I took his PDA and left another mine there. I kept moving and soon i found the documents in a table almost at the same time i heard one of the mines exploding, i had to move, and i had to do it fast.

So i ran while the second mine exploded and the flashlights started to iluminate the building. Heard some shooting and some bullets passed buzzing around me but soon i was outside heading to the swamps where i would be safe. I ran to those containers near Noa's Arc while mercs aimed and shot. It was a great shot, i was injured and bleeding but i finally got to the swamp and moved silently, my goal was to get to Shevchenko. While i moved i saw their flashligths in the dark, turned around and shot at them, then i ran to the ship and hid in the dark.

Soon i heard the stalkers shooting but they where wiped out really fast and the mercenaries entered the ship, just as planned. An explosive device taken from a dead merc some days ago was waiting for them inside, two of them where killed by the explotion, a third one by my TOZ right after going inside and then i ran upstairs and waited. A grenade exploded near, they where coming.

A man came upstairs and started looking for me, he didn't saw me in the darknes and i shot twice at his back, then came the silence... nobody else came and I waited for a moment with my shotgun loaded. Then, after a while i decided to go down. A rain of bullets received me while i ran to get under cover, again i was bleeding almost to death while i heard steps in the darknes, he was getting closer. I jumped out of cover and shot at his head...

It was 5 am and dawn was coming while i returned to Skadovsk. Hungry, tired, injuried and victorious with all those mercenaries equipment as profit along with money and the documents that would get me a new suit and a new gun and so i thought, thats what Misery is all about, being cunning, planning, scavenging and surviving."

Well thats it, i dont know if those last mercenaries where from the processing station or just some random group wandering zaton, but in that moment, for me it was like they had followed me all the way to Shevchenko.

^^Coll story bro. No sarcasm intended.

Mercenaries in Misery are stubborn as hell. They will chase you aslong as they can smell you. And their sense of smell is special too.

Theres no special story to what made me stick to Misery. First of, I liked the idea of selecting my class, so in other words the instalation itself was pretty exciting on its own. Just like you, my first choice was the recon, cause it seemed to be the right guy to take the stealthy type of gameplay.
It was when my game loaded ofr the first time, that I trully felt in love with this mod. This wasnt the same Call of Prypiat that I used to play a couple of years ago. Everything fells so diferent. The enviorment seems to depressing and dark, just as the Zone should have always been.
The HUD and sound breathing from my gas mask was alsow an amazing imersive feature I might add. And my inventory was loaded with stuff that I didnt even knew what it was for.

So making it short. I fell in love with this mod from the moment I was installing it.
And I gotta say, paying 20 euros for Call of Prypiat is way to overpriced in my opinion. But paying that to play Misery is one hell of a deal.

Sure it's worth it bro, i enjoyed it since i started, and got many good stories while scavenging or hunting.

What attracted me the most was the idea of strugling, fighting my way up and slowly adapting the zone. It was a harsh and unforgiving, but incredibly rewarding game.

Best event for me was making an ill informed decision to raid the gas station to try raise some funds. I'd been putting it off for days, hunting poor bandits at the ranger station and selling cards and cutlery. A nearby stalker got interested in the gunfire and helped me out. It was difficult, but some planning and stealth made the job easier.

So there I am giddy with excitement, looting eight fallen bandits on the forecourt pulling up all kinds of new shit. DMRs SIGs and even one of those Russian TT automatic pistols which I immediately replaced my makarov with. Getting nearer the edge of the forecourt, I hear shooting from the forest and turn around in true Hollywood fashion to the back of the forecourt near the store to see my acquaintance, still standing unguardedly, take a shot to the head and drop as a handful of rounds hit around him.

I took cover behind the fallen (vending machine?) in the store and pull out my Toz with slugs loaded. Waiting till they get closer as I don't have the range, I recognized merc clothing and my heart sinks, having just recently overwritten my autosave and realizing there's no escape. When was my last hard save??? Bullets landing all around me although I remain somewhat comforted by the fact that they are just pot shots as several of the mercs are advancing toward me meaning they can't see me fully. Eight. What are the chances of hitting a double squad?! My only danger is that they flank me and get a clear shot. I fire on the first hitting him square in the chest. Trying not to panic I spend the second round carefully, choosing not necessarily the closest target, but a stationary one, reluctant to waste a shell and have to reload. They're all moving now, no one taking cover. Advancing. I panic. Miss. Twice. A round hits me, they're actually hitting me! No time to check the damage. I low crouch and reload. Anorak coming up the side. I...thunck...heavy breathing...shit...inventory...first aid kit...black out...

I come to, expecting to be dead, you know the way it does it. But no, I'm still alive and the anorak is coming closer round the left side of the gas station. The TT! I pull it out and empty it on the anorak. Still heavy breathing. How long do I have left? Turning, I blast the next merc closing in in front of me and then duck for cover. The next merc was a little further away. I chance reloading my Toz. Again I turn and catch a glimpse of him disappearing behind a column. I catch his arm with my shot and he recoils. I send the second shot toward his chest. How many left? I reload and turn again. No movement. Sixteen bodies litter the gas station. I survived! The most epic (poorly armed) shoot out and luckiest recovery ever made, I'd say! All took place within 30 seconds.

Edited by: htkblazer

Shock and Awe - The Fun Way! (this didnt really happen, but it was just too much fun to write so i posted it anyway!)

The Zone presented a wide variety of... hehehe... FUN opportunities for the average, everyday pyromaniac and bombs expert. Several artifacts, missions and good loot had let me in a pretty good way, at least financially, so now, it was time for some FUN. My inner explosion demon was roaring to be let loose, and i was getting antsy anyway.

It was a lovely morning in Zaton, i had nothing to do and Owl and Beard were getting annoyed at my large stash of explosives. So.... One Jerrycan full of fuel, one half full propane tank, Twenty two butterfly mines, 6 RPG IEDs, four standard IEDs, a cache of thirty or so Powder Cans, my trusty Mosin Nagant and Sig P220 and off i went. I asked around, checking for some of the best, quiet spots in the Zone to set up and one stalker gave me the Dock Cranes, saying nobody's been there for days.

Ten minutes later i was at the cranes, narrowly avoiding a bandit patrol on the way. I looked around and found a good spot to set up a lookout post, on top of one of the cranes near the control cabin. I put my gear there and got right to work. i put twenty two of the thirty powder cans on top of butterfly mines in some random spots. Used some ropes and kits i found nearby to tie the IEDs to spots hanging from the cranes, connected to a simple quick release tether made out of some stuff i found in the truck nearby. The Jerrycan full of fuel went in the truck with two Powder Cans, and the rest went in the middle of it all with an IED standing right above it. After a solid two hours i was satisfied and went up into my safe perch for a perfect view of the fireworks display.

Then... out of absolutely nowhere, i hear gunfire. I look around and soon i found the source. Three of my Duty brothers were cornered by a bandit gang, at least twenty, maybe more of them, guns blazing. I get on the radio and get them moving toward me, giving them directions safely around the mines. My setup was perfect, the duty brothers could take cover in the shipping crates nearby. The bandits charged in, full of bloodlust, by some miracle, missing all the mines i placed. They barged in and surrounded Duty, barking demands and spouting insults.

The gang leader was only just out of range of one of my IED traps. I waited. Closer... closer... closer... come on you worthless scum just a bit more! Closer... YES!!! Flick of my wrist, one of the rigged IEDs fell straight down, landing right in front of him. He noticed, tried to run and BOOOOOOM blasted him straight up. The shock sent them all into a panic and left and right ran straight into mines i left. Shrapnel was flying everywhere, bandits being ripped apart by steel and fuel, two of them even caught fire when the jerrycan exploded. It was beautiful! The best ive ever faced as a stalker... even the Boiler Anomaly couldnt have done better! After all was said and done, there was only one bandit left.

He stood there, panicked look on his face, just standing there. I was out of explosives and my Duty brothers came out of hiding, guns drawn, pissed off. The bandit dropped to his knees and begged. Good! All good dogs beg. Duty men spoke and instead of getting revenge they got the location of their main base. Seems a new group of bandits had set up camp in the Ranger Station again. But, they had lost so many men here, there were only three sentries and the bandit second in command there, waiting for loot. Duties thanked him for the info, stripped him bare of everything he had and threw him off the side wall just as a pack of dogs was passing by. He... didnt last long. I was satisfied and began looting the leftover corpses... the glorious carnage!!! Made up all of the cash i spent on the explosives plus enough to get Nimble to get me a new SVD. Two days later i heard the Ranger Station was now the property of Duty.

Its days like this that make me happy!!!

Edited by: StalinGrad6

thank you for joining guys, great stories; i hope more people gets interested.

htkblazer wrote:

I took cover behind the fallen (vending machine?) in the store and pull out my Toz with slugs loaded. Waiting till they get closer as I don't have the range, I recognized merc clothing and my heart sinks, having just recently overwritten my autosave and realizing there's no escape. When was my last hard save??? Bullets landing all around me

haha i everyone here can relate to that.

StalinGrad6 wrote:

Ten minutes later i was at the cranes, narrowly avoiding a bandit patrol on the way. I looked around and found a good spot to set up a lookout post, on top of one of the cranes near the control cabin. I put my gear there and got right to work. i put twenty two of the thirty powder cans on top of butterfly mines in some random spots.

does this works in-game? it would be great for my pseudogiant problem

jp_b36 wrote: does this works in-game? it would be great for my pseudogiant problem

What pseudogiant problem? If a pseudogiant is chasing you, fix mines to a hotkey, let's say 'T' then run backwards and press 'T', 'T', 'T'. No pseudogiant problem.

Edited by: htkblazer

no. not EXACTLY like that but if youre VERY careful and VERY good at it, you can put IEDs on some VERY precarious positions. the games collision physics basically gives them a hair-trigger and you can put them just so, then the slightest little jolt (such as gunfire or something) drops them straight down. it takes a lot of work but the result is entertaining

htkblazer wrote:

jp_b36 wrote: does this works in-game? it would be great for my pseudogiant problem

What pseudogiant problem? If a pseudogiant is chasing you, fix mines to a hotkey, let's say 'T' then run backwards and press 'T', 'T', 'T'. No pseudogiant problem.

it's near jupiter, where 2 pseudogiantas are living (and posibly mating?) i want to hunt them both but i dont want it to take too much ammo, so i thought explosives would be great

StalinGrad6 wrote: no. not EXACTLY like that but if youre VERY careful and VERY good at it, you can put IEDs on some VERY precarious positions. the games collision physics basically gives them a hair-trigger and you can put them just so, then the slightest little jolt (such as gunfire or something) drops them straight down. it takes a lot of work but the result is entertaining

i think i will try it, if it works i should be posting a new story

Edited by: jp_b36

The Perfect Shot, on a Perfect Day.

Was wandering around the Cement Factory in Jupiter. Admiring the view. Yeah. Admiring the view. It was a shockingly quiet, peaceful and clear day and i decided to do some sightseeing, maybe test out my new SVD and found the Cement Factory as the perfect spot. I had four days worth of gear with me. Sleeping bag, food, alcohol (you know... why not?) some chocolates, and other stuff. Two days after i set up camp in the tallest tower i look around and... This. Perfect, picturesque view like something out of a postcard or tourist trap. No wind, sunlight, no radiation, no noise, nothing. Just me, and that perfect view.

That was when i spotted him. A pseudogiant, just siiting there. Mustve been at LEAST 1500 metres off, hiding under a tree. He was far enough away he wouldnt spot me, and far enough if he did, i could put him down fast. I got my rifle and started checking for a firing line. Ammo. 7.62x54 7N1 AP. Ten rounds loaded. Scope, check. Barrel and stock, check. I crawled onto my belly, used the railing as a steadying arm and took dead aim. Didnt take me long to find him again. I took a good look. Conditions for a sniper were beyond perfect. I breathed in and set my finger on the trigger.

I began to slowly squeeze, keeping dead aim at the bumps on his back. Spinal cord. Thats where his weaknesses were. If i was lucky, i could immobilize him and wait for another stalker or mutant to finish him off, watch the fun. but Just barely before i fired, he turned suddenly and im not sure how i know but... he looked me straight in the eye. I stood there, staring straight into his big, fat eyeball above those spindly arms for what seemed an eternity. My instinct took over and i continued. BLAM. Recoil. Bullet was away. I got back my sight just in time to see the bullet go straight into his eye, the whole right side of his head spewing open. He fell flat and lifeless. I wanted to be certain but... i cant explain it. I just couldnt pull the trigger again. He was dead. I knew it. Shooting him again just... didnt seem right somehow.

I was a happy boy. My first pseudogiant ever, and on a perfect day. The next morning and the ominous noise of thunder and rain showed themselves and i packed up and headed back to the Station to restock and go artefact hunting. As i get to the bottom of the stairs i get this funny feeling to take out my detector. Poof. A Gravi pops up at my feet. Ive heard stories about artefacts just popping up waaay out of range of anomaly fields, but never like this! I stuck it in a container i had and headed home.

The artefact... it had a wierd... energy about it. Wierder than normal. I cant explain it but... It said something.

"Thank you... for giving me peace."

One thing I like about Misery is how it can make normally easy missions escalate into insanity.

I'm in the Skadovsk after a successful hunting trip when one of bandit goons starts yelling at me, telling me his boss wants a word. So I go over and speak with the local bandit kingpin, Sultan, and by-and-by he mentions something about straightening out a group of Loners nearby. I don't like what I'm hearing but I play along and pretend to be interested. The goon, Knuckles fills me in on the details: he wants some extra muscle to help out with a night raid on the guys who set up camp in the Shevchenko, the wrecked ship just over from the Skadovsk. Now I really don't like what I'm hearing - those stalkers have helped me out in the past, including killing bandits who were attacking me. Bandits who follow Sultan's orders.

I tell Knuckles I'll join the raid, but in reality I've no intention of helping him. "Well I'm going to get some vodka and relax, I'll see you boys at midnight" I tell them, and head over to Beard. Keeping my voice low I tell Beard what just happened. Beard isn't any happier about this than I am and suggests I go along with the bandits and backstab them once the shooting starts. "It's like you read my mind, old man" I say, raising a vodka glass to the idea. Beard says the guys at the Skadovsk will be grateful and sure to reward me, which sounds good to me.

Since it's going to be a night fight I decide now is a good time to upgrade my headgear with something sturdy and NV equipped. Owl happens to have some Sphere-08s in stock, overpriced as usual but that's Owl for you. I also take the time to clean my trusty AKM and Beretta pistol, and stuff some grenades into my pockets.

After some booze and a snooze, it's finally time to head out. Everything is spooky green through the night vision but that's better than pitch black or walking around with a big glowing target on my head. I and the four bandits group up by one end of the Shevchenko (the prow, or the stern? How would I know, I'm USS, not a Navy swabbie) and on Knuckles' word we head out. The bandits must be dumb as hell because they let me - an outsider - take up the tail-end charlie position, which suits me just fine. I let them go on ahead into a tiny gully and roll a hand grenade after them. Not only are they dumb but apparently deaf too - probably stoned, drunk and high - since they don't react and the last thing they know is the grenade exploding in that confined space. This kills three outright, including that asshole Knuckles, but the guy on point was shielded by his comrades' bodies and wasn't hurt. He didn't stay alive for long though. He panicked and ran into the ship's hull, where he was gunned down by the Shevchenko Loners lying in wait.

I stroll over to the Loner leader, a solid guy called Spartakus in a radiation suit, ready to collect my reward, but before I can talk to him suddenly all hell breaks loose. Gunshots start spanging off the ship hull, one Loner outside is instantly killed and goes down without even a cry, the rest all rush into combat positions. I didn't see where the shots came from but apparently the Loners did, since they're all pointing their guns eastward. I creep out the north side of the ship, keeping low, and take a look through my AK scope to see what I can see. And what I can see is a huge band of bandits up on the dock cranes pouring automatic fire into our position. They must have been woken up when my grenade went off. There must be at least eight of them so they easily outnumber us, but the Shevchenko loners are that crazy kind of badass that don't care about no odds. They head out of the other side of the hull as a group and begin advancing on the bandits, firing back. I see one bandit go down, another stagger injured, the rest scuttle for cover. I run over to join the Loners, mainly to try to keep Spartakus alive (I admit that's partly because he hasn't paid me yet).

That looks like a good start but in a firefight things can quickly turn against you. The bandits are being more cautious now but still taking shots at the loners out in the swamp. Without any cover the Loners are taking hits, one is wounded and another goes down dead. I return fire from behind a rock and manage to kill a bandit but then a grenade lands in front of me. I just have time to take cover before it goes off, making my ears ring but otherwise not hurting me. It's clear the bandits are pushing in and that they know exactly where I am, so I have to move - but I don't want to leave the remaining Loners behind either.

Of course this is just the time when the Zone's vicious sense of humour displays itself. A pair of fleshes comes bouncing merrily through the middle of the firefight, squealing loudly. It's so absurd I almost laugh - but the laughter dies in my throat as I realize the fleshes must be running away from something even more dangerous than a pack of armed stalkers. I hear a familiar roar and huffing sounds that send a chill up my spine. Bloodsuckers. There's more than one of them too.

By now the idiot bandits have already gunned down the fleshes without a thought so the bloodsuckers are looking for new prey. Two of them decide bandit meat is the tastiest and make moves to get some, but another two politely disagree and maintain that extra-rare Degtyarev steaks are the height of Zone cuisine. I have to think fast since this is a tricky spot. If I jump up on the rock nearest to me I'll be safe from the bloodsuckers but the bandits might take potshots at me. If I stay on the ground the Bloodsuckers will be able to maul me. I can hear screams of pain from humans and bloodsuckers, wild shooting from a dozen weapons. I take a quick peek and it's a scene of absolute chaos, everything attacking everything, but I can still hear two bloodsuckers getting closer.

I comprimise and decide to run back to the ruined barge just next to the Shevchenko. The two bloodsuckers chase me all the ~50m sprint there but with a bit of weaving and dodging I avoid their attacks, don't get shot at, and even manage to keep my underwear dry. I'm able to kill one of the mutants pretty easily from a safe spot, it seems like the other one retreats but you can never be sure with bloodsuckers so I'm still edgy. I decide my best option here is to get into the Shevchenko and head up to the main deck. I do this, cross the hull beams to the front section, and try to see what happened at the dock cranes.

I can see a lot of corpses, both human and mutant, and one guy in a radiation suit wandering around, picking up loot. It's Spartakus! Somehow he was the only one who survived. As I'm watching though I see him whip out his rifle and start backing up hard. A bloodsucker uncloaks and takes a swipe at him as he shoots at it. It was the bloodsucker who'd been after me, now decided to take an easier target. Maybe its swipe missed Spartakus or maybe it only wounded him but either way he's not killed. I quickly swap my scope to the 5.0x and zoom in on him. It's the only way I have to help him. I watch where he's looking, because that's where the bloodsucker will appear - and there it is, uncloaking right under my crosshairs! Spartakus and me both open up and the filthy mutant is torn to pieces. Spartakus lives! I meet him to get my pay, and pick up 10x that from the various corpses lying around.

So that's the story of how an easy mission went to shit but worked out alright in the end anyway.

(If you're wondering why I could hear the bloodsuckers breathing, that's because I removed the silent breath sound files. I like Misery being hard but those were too much)

Black Road. Sniper

I wake up at the sawmill house. Grab my remaining supplies from the bag(some shifty meat, worn out makarov and a bed spread. Head up, grab the crap in the attic as well as the tools (calibration?). Jump down above the zombie which was roaming around the entrance and sprint out of the yard. Surprisingly those dullards didn't react at me jumping out of a building right next to them.
I grab a dbl. barrel sawn off shotgun and some supplies from the tractor in the barn and make my way, flashlight in one hand, knife in the other to the nearest stalker camp by the swamps. 2 stalkers by the fire, one to their side watching the horizon and most likely one at the swamps in search of artifacts. Turns out it's a duty squad. I see their shiny new weapons and even a sako trg. I have some experience in dealing with stalkers so I whip out my knife, stand in front of the one nearest to the fire and start to knife him in the leg until he submits and ducks with his hands above his head. Somehow the other guy by the fire was dumbfound and was only standing up and looking at me so I quickly knifed him on the spot and took cover behind a box as shots blazed into the wood where I was standing. That guy watching the horizon wasn't as dumb as his teammates.
I grab my makarov and empty the 8 bullets into his helmet downing him from cover. I aproach the wounded/submiting stalker while I still got time from the fourth in the swamp and tell him to hand his shit over to me. He apparently disagrees and stands up and starts to whip out his Abakan. I knife him on the spot and loot the three bodies. (Using armed zone addon) I get a nice "rex" revolver in one third condition, an abakan, a corroded shotgun in poor condition, a sako trg with no bullets and a walther with a chromed colt 1911(both in completely bad condition).
Since only the pistols got ammo and they're pretty poor and prone to jamming, I take out my dbl sawn off which has only two bullets. I drop away the crappy pistols and the corroded shotgun. Head down the swamps in search for the remaining duty member. Surprisingly, he did not react to the shots upstairs and was searching for artifacts. Once he approached the coast I came out of the bush and downed him with both shots.
Looted his dead corpse and found an AKM with a grenade launcher and a worn out deagle with magnum rounds. Threw away the deagle, kept the rounds for my trusty revolver and continued on the path so skadowsk. I
n the horizon at the other side of the lake I see four stalkers approaching. They're loners so they wouldn't care about the duty members I dispatched. But I don't care that they don't care. I whip out my akm, put in a grenade in the launcher and aim at the center of their squad. Three are blown away and the third falls down on the ground. Since he is in no mood to cooperate and doesn't speak, I shoot him in the head with the revolver. These guys had some pretty heavy gear. Like always, fancy guns with no ammo. I grab all the stuff. I'm carrying around 80 kg's now. Going slowly through the lake towards skadowsk. As I go up the hill, a pack of doges come runnins down it. Before I have time to shoot out at least two bullets they are swarming over me. I'm dead in a matter of 4 seconds.

I remember the time where i hopped over beard's bar counter top and stole all his crap behind him, which was just some zone produced food crap. then i found out his mushroom growing business in the backroom is bullshit and shot him in the face with my shotgun. which was a waste of ammo because beard and everyone else on skadovsk is a wizard that mastered invulnerability. he almost successfully trapped me back there with his black magic but i thankfully found a way around it.

Then there is the time that i was walking around a toxic anomaly to the helicopter in the swamps and got ass raped by a fucking pseudo giant who gave no shits about my shotgun shells. and since i no not the luxury of any sort of armor or suit i was screwed and couldn't make my way to a rock. and promptly died.

Oh yeah, there is the one time i went artifact hunting in the caves beneath the burnt farmstead and only got 1/5 artifacts. which pissed me the fuck off because it wasn't anomalies blocking me from them, one was buried in the hitbox of the cave wall so even though i could see it perfectly clear in the roof and could read the name "Nightstar" i couldn't actually get it because my use key pressing only landed on the cave hitbox and not the nightstar's hitbox. which is bullshit because i have taken things from a locker without actually opening the locker door before. then there are the two stone flower artifacts just sitting on the rock wall out of arms reach and above a cave entrance directly above a gravity anomaly, which is where i called it a quits and went home pissed the fuck off. and the fourth artifact i think was just buried underground because i couldn't see it at all. The zone is a cruel cock-teasing bitch sometimes.

There is also the time where i had to follow grouse to a blood sucker nest for that one quest, and promptly died over and over because grouse was the only one capable of killing a blood sucker at the time and he decided that the walls around him were in dire need of his undivided attention and forced me to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off desperately trying to avoid the bloodsucker that could kill me in one hit bcause i couldn't afford a suit with any kind of protection whatsoever (still cant, which vexes the fuck out of me because there are all these dead stalkers allover the place with really good suits which i could easily just strip off their corpses. but no this isnt fallout, we cant allow you to steal clothes. No why would you ever want to do that?) so i have to run around in circles desperately hoping enough of grouses occasional potshots actually hit the damned thing and kill it. I died many times that night.

There was also the time i took cover in the late Noah's boat shack from a pack of 3 pseudo dogs and regular dogs. I went up stairs and tried to take accurate potshots with my ToZ, but then i start getting shot at by passing bandits. so i book it back inside. then waited until the pack won. but turns out the bandits won and went inside my shack. however they didn't realize that a ToZ is a shotgun which loves you when your close. so i shot the bandit that walked in, quick saved, investigated the area for more and looted the bandits and about 1/4 of the dogs because apparently bodies become badly decayed in 30 seconds. so i gathered up the loot and went to sell everything at skadovsk.

There was also the time i went to scout the iron forest and promptly got my shit kicked in by a gang of burers who cared not in the slightest about my shotgun.

And that's about it for now. I am still suitless and poor as fuck. running around using weapons i loot off dead stalkers and only possessing a gas mask in terms of any kind of armor. but it seems to be enough for alot of the anomalies around skadovsk.

btw if art is out of reach , shoot it, it moves a bit and you can get it.... grenades also works but its bit more dangerouse...

The best is to activate the nearest anomaly, it always punches the air enough to make the artifact fall from the roof.

godlikepieman wrote:
Oh yeah, there is the one time i went artifact hunting in the caves beneath the burnt farmstead and only got 1/5 artifacts. which pissed me the fuck off because it wasn't anomalies blocking me from them, one was buried in the hitbox of the cave wall so even though i could see it perfectly clear in the roof and could read the name "Nightstar" i couldn't actually get it because my use key pressing only landed on the cave hitbox and not the nightstar's hitbox. which is bullshit because i have taken things from a locker without actually opening the locker door before. then there are the two stone flower artifacts just sitting on the rock wall out of arms reach and above a cave entrance directly above a gravity anomaly, which is where i called it a quits and went home pissed the fuck off. and the fourth artifact i think was just buried underground because i couldn't see it at all. The zone is a cruel cock-teasing bitch sometimes.

There is also the time where i had to follow grouse to a blood sucker nest for that one quest, and promptly died over and over because grouse was the only one capable of killing a blood sucker at the time and he decided that the walls around him were in dire need of his undivided attention and forced me to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off desperately trying to avoid the bloodsucker that could kill me in one hit bcause i couldn't afford a suit with any kind of protection whatsoever (still cant, which vexes the fuck out of me because there are all these dead stalkers allover the place with really good suits which i could easily just strip off their corpses. but no this isnt fallout, we cant allow you to steal clothes. No why would you ever want to do that?) so i have to run around in circles desperately hoping enough of grouses occasional potshots actually hit the damned thing and kill it. I died many times that night.

+1 true. That shit constantly happened to me as well. Until I started black road. After I die I reload the game, so I never had to worry about that cave with fire or grouse and his walls, for I die before reaching those things :F

I haven't been to Pripyat in a long time.
Somehow I always end up hoarding tons of ammo, food, repair stuff and meds before I go trough the underground. Either way I stack up on ammo, IED's, meds and food, break out my cocain and take a thick line. I feel the energy inside me, my backpack seems so much lighter. I check my weapons, FAL PARA and SIG ALPINE. I would love to take the UMP as a backup for all them snorks jumping around down there, but Im shamed to admit that I accidently sold it to bonesetter with my loot while I was playing drunk some nights before...damn I hope I find another one soon.

The underground proves to be easier than I thought, some well placed IED's finish the Monolith fight in just some minutes. I carefully check the corners but I found less stashes then I expect, might have to go back some time. Soon the little group arrives at pripyat and I gladly stash away around 20 kilos of supplies.
After doing some necessary repairs and eating some stale bread I decide to head out for a short peek into pripyat. Its late afternoon and only a few hours of light left. Still jacked up on coke I take some basic gear and run straight from the laundromat towards the jubileiny service center / kindergarten area. I remember that there are electrical anamolies on the roof and maybe I can snatch a light artefact there and sprint back before its completly dark.

I get an uneasy fealing as I sprint trough the dense bushes and along the empty apartement buildings. Its very foggy and dusk is advancing fast and I have a feeling like something could jump me anytime. I switch to my SIG ALPINE and curse once again that I sold my UMP and vowed to never play drunk again.
sticking to the walls of the buildings I reach the intersection with the broken car, NE of the kindergarten. The fog is so dense by now I can barely see a few meters. with the back to a wall I check my PDA. According to that Im looking right at the service center, however I wouldn't know it since I cant see shit.

Just as I decide to go sprint across the open space and into the cover of the first floor I hear a terrifying roar from the left which can only mean one, two headed thing. I immediatly turn back around and sprint back towars the wall when the Chimera already jumps out of the fog not 5 meters from me, to disapear not a second later.
Crouching in a small blocked staircase I stare into the fog weighing my options. The Chimera appears in my vision again, as does a single dog. I shoot the dog with my FAL PARA from the hip and fire a M209 in the Chimeras face. I already feel the well known itching, the coke is starting to wear out...

When the Chimera appears again I finish it with a second M209. I decide to loot the beast and head back to base and start fresh in the morning. I switch to pistol again and approach the body. Im sure everyone knows this horrilbe feeling of voulnerbility while looting mutants...that was no different this time. As Im done taking my trophies and dinner from the dead mutant, the fog has cleared into a light rain while the shadows of the night come closer and closer. I spin around south and want to hurry back, when I see a single pseudo dog running trough the tall grass right towards me. I fire at it with my ALPINE but miss. Panik creeps up on me, I see no high ground or other good cover and my legs are shaking now that the coke is gone..I make a run for it.

After not even 30 meters I hear growling behind me. I spin with pistol in hand and see doom racing towards me. ten, twenty, a hundred or however many pseudo and normal dogs run towards me. im fucked, I know it this second. I swith to granade launcher but deep down I know its too late. Im never gonna make it. and im not.
the swithcing to granade launcher takes too long, they are already at me when its ready. I don't care anymore, Im going down blazing! The rifle grenade takes out half a douzen dogs and myself, the blast throws me trough the air and im thankfull that im dead before I hit the ground, and I dont have to feel those razor like teeths tearing me appart while the life drains from me.

As I close my eyes I cant help but think that I might have made it with my UMP. Or not.

Pripyat, Random Insanity - The Ribcage On the Barrel

STALKERS game engine NEVER ceases to amaze me. i mean YIKES.

Mission complete, all is said and done, i decided to go sniping and monolith hunting. I get into a cozy spot up a ladder, on top of one of the apartment buildings near the Ferris Wheel. KSVK in hand i take aim and put down a few monolith soldiers from 1000+ metres and feel pretty happy about myself.

I stick around for another hour and i spot a zombie below me. Just an average zombie, nothing special about him. So i fire a shot and miss him by a mile. my gun jams just in time for him to start firing back at me. gun jams, condition low it wont let me fire. I concentrate and whip out my repair kit, fix fix fix, reload and JUST as i aim at him, BBAAAAMMMM!!!

I get smacked in the face by the bloodied remains of a human ribcage. it flops about a bit and then lands on my rifle, and refuses to come off. i stand there for a minute or so, with a WTF???? look on my face, and finally i get the composure to look at where it came from. The zombie i was tracking earlier had been too busy trying to shoot me, and had wandered into a nearby lone Vortex. i take a closer look and sure enough, sitting against a tree is his rusty sawn-off and what looks like a piece of a bone.

i look at my gun with a bloodied ribcage glitched into it somehow and decide to drop it. its still there just hanging on it. i burst into laughter and roll around on the floor for a good ten, maybe fifteen minutes. i get up to take some screenshots

and... power cut. ****ing Eskom.

Post the screenshots then

Or may be I didn't understand well and u hadn't enough time to get some...

Edited by: lopezien

Just think how whipping out a gun with a ribcage stuck on it would make the bandits shat themselves

couldnt take any screenshots. tried to replicate it but its one of those once in a lifetime things... i say again

****ING ESKOM (south african state run power company)

I feel your pain ... I've been many places where we were so remote we generated out own power. Italy was rough, Hawaii seemed to have major power glitches 6 times a day. That's why I have a huge UPS. Even In Florida there are plenty of thunderstorms that make power unsteady and I use a Ram Drive, so if I lose power to my system for even a second it goes blank.

jeez and i thought I had it bad!

It was a normal day in the lovely zaton.i checked my personal box to read the found documents again(alun's journals,document under the gas station,document
On a dead soldier body in the snork lair and....)and started the checking:AKM,check.ALPINE,check.military stim packs,check.bandage,check.every thing was ready.i came out of the skadovsk for one destination,iron forest.after what looked like a decade of stress,I finnaly rechead the place.i took out my binoculars to see what looked like an army of mutants.
At least 20 zombies with 2 exos,4 blood suckers,2 burers,1 poltegreist, and a chimera,hmmm.....it will be a hard fight.the first target is the poltegreist.
How much ammo do I have?100 FMJ with 60 AP and a grenade,it's OK.i switched the gun to FMJ and grenade launcher.i waited for them to get close and I realeased the beast,a grenade buzzing through the air landed right next to the ghost and turning it to shrouds.now the fight starts.zombies going down one by one and blood suckers meeting my bullets in the chest.
After a great fight all zombies and suckers went down and only an injured burer was still up.he went down with straight bullet in his head.the chimera was missing so I waited for him to appear but nothing came out so I reloaded my AKM and steped one by one to see a giant two headed beast leaping toward me.i quickly backed up and emptied a full clip In to him but it was still alive so I ran to the smallso cabin on the corner of the place and emptied my last clip in to his head,again he was still alive so I switched to ALPINE and started to fire bullets in to his head the first clip wasn't enough but the third bullet of the second clip killed the moster instantly.being low on health and ammo I quickly examined the helicopter and made my way back to the skadovsk with tons of hives and meats.

Recon, Black Road, Dark Mode, w/ The Armed Zone addon.
The Butcher of the Zone!

It was early in the morning. I wouldn't dare to go out since the sun holds a distant grudge on me and wants to roast me up. I checked my bank acount and realized I can afford some basic equipment. My love for a Beretta will never die. I bought a rusted one. As owl was showing me his stock, an axe caught my eye. "What's with this axe?" I asked. He explained that it belonged to the most infamous and fearsome bandit, the Butcher of the Zone! My curiosity got the better of me. I bought that axe as well as some basic equipment. I took 2 sleeping pills and a glass of water and slept for some time.

By the time I woke up, a blowout was happening. It was 2000 hours. The blowout ended. With a rusty Beretta in one hand and the Axe in the other, I charged the Mercs stationed at the Waste processing station. The merc who had the higher ground spotted me and called out his mates to take me out. With a rushing move, I ran to the hole leading to the sewers. With my NV on and my Beretta in hand, I sat there and just played the waiting game. One of them, with an exoskeleton, dared to advance on my position. As I knew that my Beretta will not even land a scratch on him, I held my Axe with both hands and carved it into his head, splitting it into two. The was a feeling I can't describe. The rage consumed me. The blood released the beast inside me... Owl was right. The Axe had the soul of the Butcher in it, and it was taking control of me, just like how a controller does. Another merc showed up, I couldn't reach for my pistol so I carved my Axe into his intestines... "What is happening to me?!" I yelled. Somehow I regained control of myself and took out my pistol and killed some others. I had lost counting. I could hear footsteps above me, then I realized I was safe. The last two weren't that much of a problem as they wore some basic body armor. I gather anything I could salvage, from ammunition to a laptop full of useful information, which Owl asked me to get my hands on it.

I was heading to Skadovsk then three snorks got in my way. I ran to the nearest ship, someone was in there, a fellow stalker with a leather overcoat. Together we killed those snorks. "Feel free to drop by sometime" He said. His dog was strange, that eyes... I got to Skadovsk and sold the guns to Beard and the informations to Owl.
(That's how an Axe changed my playstyle as a Recon and sorry for my English)