- This article is about red-leafed forest region in Clear Sky. For the antenna complex with adjacent forest and highway checkpoints that block access to the Zone's center in SoC, see Radar.
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For the location in Heart of Chornobyl, see Red Forest (Heart of Chornobyl). |
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This used to be a wildlife reserve, and I was the local forester. I protected the forest and its animals from poachers. Now the Zone itself protects this place, and it does it so well that people are willing to travel a dozen extra miles just to avoid it. If a stranger sets his foot in the forest, he's as good as dead. I may be Forester, but even I don't know exactly what goes on here. A man walks into the mist and just gets sucked off into nowhere. You could be walking right behind him and still not know how he met his end. So that's that, sonny.
The Red Forest is a northern locations appearing in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
This is a forest full of anomalies, mutants, and, as the name suggests, reddish-brown trees.
Overview[]
"Red Forest" is the name given to large areas of woodlands surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which turned into a ginger-brown color after the pine trees died when they absorbed high levels of ionizing radiation following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Forester, a well-known resident of the forest, has been living in the area for a long time, working as a park ranger. The Red Forest continued to flourish with wildlife until the emergence of the Zone in 2006, which caused wild animals to disappear; instead, mutants and anomalies became widespread within the forest.
Some time after 2006, Radar became inaccessible due to the Brain Scorcher. The surrounding area became a fortified Monolith outpost, which the fanatics use to launch regular raids on the Barrier.
The Red Forest was not affected by the antennas, but its human population remained low due to the large number of anomalies. The Second Emission in 2011 opened new paths to the Forest, allowing stalkers to scout the area and the nearby city of Limansk.
Appearances[]
Clear Sky[]
In Clear Sky, Scar goes to the Red Forest, pursuing Strelok. There is a tunnel that leads to the Radar featured in Shadow of Chernobyl, which Strelok destroys so that Scar cannot apprehend him. Prior to the emission that begins the game, it was deemed impossible to get to the Red Forest, due to anomalous fields and due to the Brain Scorcher blocking the other paths. The emission opened pathways to the Red Forest, and some stalkers ventured into the Red Forest hoping to strike gold. The Red Forest is home to Forester. It also has a bridge that leads to Limansk, which needed to be lowered so that Clear Sky and Scar could advance through Limansk and into the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
The Red Forest in Clear Sky is different from the Shadow of Chernobyl version. Instead of being filled with armed stalkers (most likely the Monolith), it's home to a variety of dangerous mutants, such as psy dogs, bloodsuckers, snorks, and a lone pseudogiant in the Symbiont anomaly, along with huge clusters of gravitational or Electro anomalies and a large area of radioactivity beside the road that stretches from the gate of Forester's site, to the access point from the Garbage that is only opened after the player completes some main quests in the area.
Stalkers have also occupied some of the territories; Renegades and Bandits have occupied the old mine that leads to the Compass and also the bridge leading to Limansk itself. Duty fighters established outposts near Forester's tower and will occupy the Renegades' mine after the quest to retrieve the Compass, and Loners have made a camp near the entrance from the Garbage. They offer a mission to the player to establish a camp near the Symbiont anomaly.
Notable Locations[]
- Bridge to Limansk
- Devilish encampment
- Notorious path
- Barracks in mine
- Mining Complex
- Dark Yar
- Witch circle
Development[]
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Buried Red Forest in an earlier build of SoC
The Red Forest concept art for Clear Sky
In early Shadow of Chernobyl builds, Radar featured five peculiar line-shaped garbage piles symbolizing the buried real-life Red Forest. As development progressed, GSC replaced the garbage piles with a forest[1] (by Build 2205) and then decorated it with mutilated trees (by Build 2571). And the team also renamed the map to "Radar" in the original Russian version. However, most non-Russian localizations (except for the later Ukrainian one) retained the old name "Red Forest", creating a legacy error that was never corrected.
In Clear Sky, the developers returned to the idea of implementing the Red Forest in their game, but this time they presented their fantasy of what the Red Forest might have been if it hadn't been bulldozed and buried in trenches, with the trenches then covered with sand.
Gallery[]
Clear Sky[]
References[]
- ↑ The woods near the Brain Scorcher is referred to as the Black Forest in a PDA diary entry by a Monolithian.