io organic industrialism on 13/6/2008 at 15:01

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I have started embarking on a journey through the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The purpose of this is not to fight monsters or to kill strelok, but to document the destruction and beauty of this important landmark.

I have been fascinated with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster for a long time, well before the Stalker game came out. I've always wanted to visit it, especially after I read kidd of speed (yes, I know it's a "hoax", etc, it's still beautiful).

But, since I can't right now and likely never well... The next best thing is having a virtual tour.
I enjoyed playing through the main campaign of STALKER, I took lots of screenshots my first round through, but by the time I got to Pripyat, I was very frustrated with how difficult the game was and how much I was dying. It was ruining my sightseeing and honestly, having a bunch of enemies in Pripyat just seems really wrong and ruins the atmosphere of abandonment for me. So I stopped playing in Pripyat almost a year ago and I haven't come back...

Until now, because finally I have found what I have been looking for from the beginning.
(http://stalker.filefront.com/file/STALKER_SAFE_Mod;87641)
The SAFE mod removes all monsters, enemy AI, and anomaly damage.
I have also installed a "radiation proof suit" so I can access those particularly melty places without fear of contamination.
I have installed the "Stalkerskies" mod to make the skies more realistic, and, more importantly, make the sun rise in the east (it really killed my sense of presence when the sun would rise in the west, set in the west)
Also running float32 version 1.5 something to hopefully make my framerate a little better with full dynamic lighting enabled.

I plan on taking my precious time, exploring the area like I would if I was really there. Not poring over every square inch of the map, but hitting the important structures, taking lots and lots of pictures. Slowly making my way towards the reactor. I figure it will take me about 6 hours to get there.

This is the way to do it. I need to experience the reactor properly (abandoned)

I also do real urban exploration, here is one of my favourite places...

http://djiomusic.googlepages.com/whole_complex_aug_640.jpg
http://djiomusic.googlepages.com/PICT0009-512.JPG

So ... Chernobyl is kind of like a grail for me.

More story & pictures of the exclusion zone to come

io organic industrialism on 13/6/2008 at 16:19

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Maybe I made it unclear...

I did not actually create the Safe mod, I just will be using it for my upcoming journey :D
Also how do you disable the hud and crosshair? I think I'll do that as well :)

D'Arcy on 13/6/2008 at 18:56

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Just in case you don't know it yet; since you say that you like kid of speed, here's another interesting site about Chernobyl:

(http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~dmcmill/index.html)

And an old one (maybe you know it already) about urban exploration, with lots of Stalker-like places:

(http://www.forbidden-places.net/)

io organic industrialism on 15/6/2008 at 18:25

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Have you gone there and tried? I'm still in agroprom, and also experiencing crashing problems loading my saves at the moment so my progress is on hold at the moment. I think the safe mod is supposed to open up all areas though. I'll try to see if I can get loaded and run over there and try to enter the bar.

io organic industrialism on 16/6/2008 at 02:40

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Reinstalling right now to see if I can fix the issues