Stalker Gets a Prequel

By Nick Mokey Published July 12, 2007

Stalker Gets a Prequel

Just months after the release of its first major title, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, Ukrainian developer GSC Game World announced that the game will get a prequel in the near future. Stalker: Clear Sky will be set one year prior to the events of the first game, explaining some of unfilled holes in its storyline.

Clear Sky brings players back to when a group of Stalkers – essentially mercenary adventurers – first discover Chernobyl, the heart of the contaminated area known as the Zone. Chernobyl’s discovery trips an imbalance in the Zone, causing strange anomalies and blowouts of energy. It also comes in the midst of fierce factionalism among the Stalkers, which sets the scene for players to choose from among eight factions in their fight for survival and lead them to dominance. Many of the old locations from the game will return, along with new areas such as the Red Forest, Limansk, Pripyat Undergrounds and more

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Besides the new storyline, Clear Sky will introduce version 1.5 of the game’s X-Ray Engine, which will include DirectX 10 support. For those who don’t have the hardware to support DirectX 10 quite yet, the DirectX 9 renderer is also set to be improved with parallax bump mapping, soft particles, depth of field, motion blur, and an eye adaptation effect.

Stalker: Clear Sky is set for release in the first quarter of 2008.

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How to increase carrying capacity in Stalker 2

Key art for Stalker 2. A character in a lit-up gas mask and a gun on their back.

Every decision you make in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has weight to it, including what you fill your backpack with. Not only are you limited based on how big your inventory is but every item you put in it has an associated weight that adds to your total. Try to carry too much and you will become encumbered and have a difficult time moving. The last thing you want is to find a valuable stash with a great new gun or piece of gear and not be able to carry it all back to a town. There are no skill trees or levels in Stalker 2, so you might think that the weight limit you start with is what you're stuck with for the whole game, but we can show you how to increase your carrying capacity. If you're exploring the Zone, check out our other Stalker 2 tips and tricks.
How to increase carrying capacity

There are a few ways to upgrade your carrying capacity, and both revolve around upgrading your body armor. At any upgrade vendor, select your armor from the list of upgrades and select the top upgrade slot. Here, you can find the Swen-on Pockets upgrade at the end of the upgrade list. This will increase your capacity by 10%, which isn't much, but the most we've found you can get. Unlocking this upgrade will require you to first get the previous upgrades, so start investing in this tree early.

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Stalker 2: tips and tricks to survive in The Zone

A mutant with a split jaw screams in Stalker 2.

If you come into Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl expecting your previous experiences with shooters to carry you through the game, you're in for a rude awakening. This is still an FPS, but it is more of an immersive sim and hardcore survival game than anything else. You will need to adopt a very different playstyle to survive in The Zone, which is filled with mutants and bandits all ready to end your journey in a flash. The game expects you to learn its most important lessons the hard way, but you can avoid a lot of that frustration by picking up these essential tips and tricks for Stalker 2 before you dive in.
Save a lot and often

This point cannot be understated. Saving in Stalker 2 should become a reflex after doing almost anything. If you make it to a town, save. After you manage your inventory and are about to go back out into danger, save. If you hear a nearby confrontation you want to investigate, save. After you survive a gunfight, save. This isn't just because death comes so fast and you can end up losing quite a bit of progress, but also because Stalker 2 is a bit buggy, and backing up your save might end up saving your playthrough.

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