Old factory

We managed to find out that there is some kind of vault there. Only it's guarded like Fort Knox.
― Bullet

The Old factory is a location in the Dark Valley featured in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky.

Overview[]

An old, small industrial complex comprised of three buildings and a water tower, surrounded by a fence. At some point, the location was chosen to cover up one of the Zone's laboratories, Lab X-18, which was built underneath the factory itself.

The factory has only one access point which is the main gate on its western side. There is a small two-story brick building on the right and another long building that runs along the southern side of the complex. There's another building very similar to it in the back of the building. The main building is L shaped and has two sections. The first section has a ceiling that's three stories high, with pipes running all over. The other section has three floors.

Appearances[]

Shadow of Chernobyl[]

In Shadow of Chernobyl, the old factory plays a major role in the story as the player must enter Lab X-18 to recover research documents. Initially, the door to Lab X-18 is locked and requires the player to acquire Borov's key to open it.

When the player first visits the Dark Valley, they may be hired by a Duty stalker, Bullet, to ambush a Bandit patrol on their way to the factory and rescue one of his fellow Dutyers, Shaggy Sergei. After obtaining the key, the player is required to assault the factory itself, held by a small group of bandits, and find the underground passage to the laboratory.

After the laboratory's documents have been obtained, the factory is taken over by the military, in order to guard the entrance to the lab. The soldiers initially assault the facility in order to stop the player from escaping, then stay behind to guard the location.

Clear Sky[]

The factory plays a minor role in the events of Clear Sky. In 2011, it is home to a group of Mercenaries whose job is to ambush Freedom patrols on the behalf of an unknown client. The Mercenaries move in and out of the valley with the help of a secret underground passage located at the factory, which enables them to evade Freedom's lockdown measures and keep their location secret.

After the player eliminates the mercenaries at the Pig farm and recovers Lingov's PDA, they may be asked by Chekhov to help Freedom get rid of the mercenaries for good. This will prompt Freedom squads to use antennas to triangulate the location of the Mercenaries' main base, which they locate at the Old factory. Scar and Freedom assault the factory, eliminating numerous mercenaries in the process. After clearing out the location, the mercenaries decide to blow up the underground passage, allowing Freedom to secure the Dark Valley for good. This questline is optional, but is essential should the player want to join Freedom as part of the Faction Wars.

After the Mercenaries are eliminated, Freedom squads will remain at the factory for a little while before relocating to other areas of the Zone as part of the Faction Wars, leaving the factory empty.

There's a Springboard anomaly with an artifact along the outside of the complex wall at the southeast corner.