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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a survival horror first-person shooter video game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World and published by Deep Silver. It is the second installment in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and a stand-alone prequel to the first installment, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl[1].

Like the previous installment, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is set within the Zone of Alienation in Chornobyl, Ukraine in 2011, five years after the Second Chornobyl Disaster. The player controls a mercenary known as Scar, employed by the Clear Sky faction to go after a group of stalkers attempting to breach in the center of the Zone.

The game was first released on August 22, 2008 in Russia, then on August 25 in Ukraine, September 12 in Europe and September 15 in North America. On March 6th, 2024, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles as part of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone trilogy.

Gameplay[]

The gameplay of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is mostly reminiscent of that of Shadow of Chernobyl, but benefits from a new set of features with the new engine. The game area is composed of many remodeled areas featured in Shadow of Chernobyl, including the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. New areas include the Great Swamp, the ghost town of Limansk-13, and the Limansk Hospital, though locations such as Rostok and Pripyat do not make a re-appearance.

As a shooter game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky features a large variety of weapons, most of which are from the previous game. New additions include the RP-74 machine gun (based on the PK machine gun), the HPSS-1m (based on the Browning Hi-Power) and the Hunting shotgun based on the TOZ-34 (interestingly, both latter weapons were originally meant to be featured in Shadow of Chernobyl, but were cut during development). Combat alternates between the player fighting mutants (mutated animals) and the player fighting hostile humans. The mutants featured in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky return from Shadow of Chernobyl, with updated AI. Human AI is also improved, and NPCs now gain the ability to throw grenades left at their disposal. The artifacts also return, although the player will now need to use one of three available detectors in order to detect and pick them up. The different artifacts impact respective player stats in different ways, such as increasing resistance to specific types of anomaly, increasing endurance, and absorbing radiation. Some artifacts have a negative effect along with its helpful impact, such being radioactive. Thus, to use this latter type of artifact, a player needs also to equip an artifact that absorbs radiation. Unlike Shadow of Chernobyl, the amount of available artifact slots (from zero to five) depends on the player's currently-equipped outfit.

The survival aspect of the game includes salvaging supplies, such as ammunition, weapons, food, and medical supplies. These can be looted from the bodies of dead stalkers, found in stashes, or bought from traders. Money can be acquired by completing optional missions and selling gear to traders. A new addition to the game is a repairing and upgrading system, allowing the player to repair weapons and armors, and to upgrade their statistics through technicians. The upgrade tree follows a precise path that involves mutually exclusive trees of modifications, typically involving one dedicated to improving accuracy and the other to improving damage statistics. Picking one tree will lock the player out of selecting the other one.

One of the most prominent gameplay features of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the Faction Wars system. This system allows the player to take part in wars between factions (three wars are available: Loners vs. Bandits, Duty vs. Freedom, and Clear Sky vs. Renegades) and help out the faction of the player's choice (except in the Clear Sky/Renegades war, where the player can only side with Clear Sky), by capturing strategic outposts, and then by an assault on the enemy faction's headquarters. The stronger a faction becomes, the better the equipment available for traders to provide, and for fighters to use. The player's character is a mercenary and may do missions for any faction, or he may remain completely neutral, without consequence. Each of the main factions provides services, most importantly: access to a trader and an engineer.

There is no "freeplay" mode of the game, as Limansk serves as the point of no-return in the game, though one could decide not to complete the main storyline and roam around the map, completing side missions and eventually the multiple faction wars. Also, unlike its predecessor, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky does not feature a multi-ending system; the game itself is more linear than its predecessor, outside the faction wars mechanic, and it includes only one ending cutscene, which details the events that lead to the intro of Shadow of Chernobyl.

Plot[]

Plichko
Get out of here stalker!
This page contains spoilers to the game's final plot. It is advised you skip this section or page if you haven't completed the game yet!

The game opens as the protagonist, Scar, is seen guiding an unknown Ecologist team through the Great Swamp. However, as they approach, waves of mutants start rushing in, followed shortly by psychic waves flooding through the area.

Later, Scar awakes in the base of the Clear Sky faction, a secret and independent Zone faction dedicated to researching and understanding the Zone, in order for humanity to understand better, what kind of phenomena it is facing. As Scar is still lying unconscious on the bed, the faction leader Lebedev, and his right-hand man Kalancha, remark that Scar's brain is relatively intact, a strange occurrence, as usually any human exposed to an emission dies. As Scar wakes up, Lebedev explains to him his situation. However, they are soon interrupted by one of Clear Sky's outposts requesting reinforcements. Lebedev then sends Scar to help the patrol at the outpost. However, as he approaches, an emission occurs, and Scar is hit yet again, to wake up once more in Clear Sky's base.

Lebedev is amazed by Scar's survival and theorizes that the Zone is being disrupted by a dramatic increase in energy emissions emanating from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the center of the Zone. Human activity is believed to be the cause. In other words, the emissions are part of an "immune response" by the Zone itself. Someone has made it to the center, and the Zone itself is trying to consume that person in order to preserve its secrets. Besides endangering all the Stalkers in the Zone, the emissions are also interacting with Scar's body and immune system in a unique way that will eventually kill him if they continue. Furthermore, if the emissions continue, the Zone could eventually become highly unstable and run out of control.

Scar is tasked with finding information about any activity regarding Stalkers trying to reach the center of the Zone. The first clue is that a suspicious group was found talking to the trader Sidorovich in the Cordon, which is the southern boundary of the Zone. After helping Clear Sky forces regain control of the swamps, Scar makes his own way to the Cordon, where he is contacted by Sidorovich. Narrowly escaping the Military outpost next to his entry point, Scar meets Sidorovich, who discusses what is happening in the Cordon. Certain events have caused Loners and the Military to turn on one another: after the military betrayed the Loners and sold out some of them to the rival Bandits faction. In retaliation, the Loners led by Father Valerian, captured and held as hostage the military commander Major Khaletskiy. In the resulting fracas, a case of loot that the Loners were delivering to Sidorovich has gone missing. In return for Scar finding and returning the case, Sidorovich has offered to share some information. However, Khaletskiy refuses to communicate the location of Sidorovich's case. In order to force him to expose the location, Valerian asks the player to assassinate General and another military commander, who are revealed to be two of Khaletskiy's closest friends - with their death, Valerian believes Khaletskiy will realize he's not going to be released soon. After doing so, Khaletskiy effectively reveals the location of the case. Scar finds the case and takes it back to Sidorovich. At this point, the player can secretly help Khaletskiy escape by handing him a handgun or leave him behind to be executed.

Sidorovich, now satisfied, fulfills his end of the deal. He explains the group that visited him were looking for some exotic parts. He directed them to the Garbage, where piles of old relics and unwanted objects are left lying around for looting. One of the members was named Fang. Scar heads to the Garbage, the heart of the Bandits territory to try and find Fang, but only stumbles over a PDA that belongs to Freshy's group, whom Fang and his friends had gone to meet. The PDA points the player towards a "digger" named Vasyan, who was sent by Freshy to catch up with Fang, who did not pay for the parts they found in the Garbage, intending to convince him to pay at least half of the money - Fang did not pay the diggers because they failed to get all of the components. Vasyan, however, lost Fang when he was chased by a pack of Blind dogs, which left him stranded on a rock. Scar then shows up and helps Vasyan kill the dogs who had been chasing him. Vasyan thanks the player by telling him Fang headed for the Dark Valley, the territory of the Freedom faction. Scar heads to the Dark Valley, to find the Freedom faction trying to defend the area from mysterious attacks. Unable to reach the Freedom leader Chekhov due to the quarantine, Scar is asked by Chekhov's right-hand man, Lingov, to help the faction by killing a Psy dog near the faction's base. Scar is later sent to bring supplies to a nearby outpost, only to find that the Freedom guards there are dead. There he finds a PDA that reveals the authors of the attacks were Mercenaries, and that Lingov sold out the faction to them. This was easy for him to do, as Lingov was in charge of monitoring the faction's patrols and movements. Scar later meets Chekhov in person, who asks him to go after Lingov. Scar later finds Lingov dead, as he helps Freedom take control of a Mercenaries-controlled farmstead. Scar helps Freedom deal with the Mercenaries and the commander, in order to retrieve more information. Chekhov, to thank Scar for his help, tells him that Fang returned to the Garbage shortly after visiting the Dark Valley, in search of more materials. At this point, Scar can further help Chekhov, by assisting Freedom in eliminating the Mercenaries faction from the Dark Valley. Scar returns to the Garbage and heads for the Flea Market owned by Loners.

When he reaches the basement of the flea market, he is ambushed and rendered unconscious by Bandits. The Bandits laid their trap for Fang, but catch Scar instead. They take his equipment and run, leaving Scar unharmed. Lebedev wakes Scar and tells him Fang's PDA is nearby. Upon discovering it, the faction's identity is revealed. The Strelok Faction, a small group of elite Stalkers, are attempting to penetrate the center of the Zone. According to the log, they did it once before and are now going to do it again by force. Lebedev confirms that they are the ones the Zone is trying to destroy, but it's not clear how they got past the Brain Scorcher or why exactly they are doing this. Upon finding that they went towards the Agroprom Research Institute, Scar must pursue the team by any means possible. But before that can happen, Scar will need to recover his equipment from the Bandits who stole it.

Scar travels to the Agroprom Institute, which is in the hands of Duty, the rival of Freedom. The Zone is being overwhelmed by very dangerous mutants, and the commander of Duty is hard-pressed, trying to remove them. The Duty commander, General Krylov, tells Scar that Strelok went to the Agroprom Underground. However, the underground is a dangerous area, full of mutants who attempt daily to breach the Agroprom, killing Duty stalkers. Scar volunteers to head in there and rout out the mutants, in exchange for further information. Battling through mutants to get inside, Scar then floods the underground to kill the mutants in the area. After further exploration, he then discovers that Strelok had a hideout in the underground, in which he finds a PDA that confirms the group's intentions of reaching the Wish Granter and the power plant. Their intentions clear, Lebedev gives Scar the undeniably difficult task of killing Strelok before he reaches the center. While Scar pursues him, Clear Sky will ambush and stop the others. After escaping the underground, Scar heads north, knowing it will be a long road to travel in order to reach the CNPP (Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant).

Scar reaches Yantar, a Loner-dominated area. The factory near the science bunker is swarming with hordes of zombies (ordinary people, whose brains have melted due to a powerful psi field emanating from nearby). Professor Sakharov, who is operating in the area, tells Scar that the group did pass through there, and that the leader, Strelok, had volunteered to test a prototype psi device. In return, Strelok wished to keep the prototype. The device itself would allow the user to completely resist and block psi emission effects, such as those given off by the Brain Scorcher. To better understand this, Scar is sent to find notes on a group of recently deceased Stalkers near the plant, which discuss the effects of the psi-field and explain why the local emissions are happening. In order to proceed, the faulty cooling system of the psi-emitter inside Lab X-16 must be repaired so that the psy emissions will cease. Scar teams up with a team of Loners led by Lefty, who (under continual fire from waves of zombies) works to restart the coolant pumps inside the factory. Without the emissions, the zombie problem would abate. Professor Sakharov thanks Scar for his aid, before informing him that a signal from the prototype device is being detected. According to the signal, Strelok is in the Red Forest. Scar quickly proceeds forward.

Strelok is briefly in plain sight, but immediately escapes before Scar can apprehend or kill him. Lebedev exhorts Scar to stop Strelok, and Strelok responds with death threats if the pursuit of him does not cease. After chasing him to a motorized drawbridge, Scar must fend off an ambush launched by Loners hired by Strelok. Strelok takes advantage of the confusion to escape, blowing up the tunnel's entrance behind him. He assures Scar that it is no longer possible to follow him and says he will reach the center, whatever it takes.

Lebedev then makes contact with Scar. The tunnel was the quickest way to the plant, which is through the Brain Scorcher. Lebedev tries to think of a way over the other side of the drawbridge, which is raised, over highly radioactive water and controlled by Bandits. Unfortunately, the bridge is now the only viable means to the center, via the adjacent town of Limansk. Scar is directed to an old Zone resident known as Forester in the Red Forest, protected by Duty, who may know a way. Forester is regarded as a well-known guide in these parts. Upon meeting Scar, Forester tells him that he knows of a way. A group of Stalkers and Mercenaries, guided by a man called Leshiy, was attempting to reach the other side but ended up in a spacial anomaly, effectively trapping them somewhere near Limansk. They are unable to escape, as any attempts only return them to their starting point. First, Scar visits a group of Mercenaries led by Hog at the ravaged Army Warehouses, who reported some radio transmissions coming from a nearby tower. When Scar arrives, he hears what is happening to the trapped group in the Spacial Anomaly. He then helps in recovering a unique artifact for Forester, which enables him to navigate the Zone. Forester believes it could be used to help guide the team out of the anomaly. One thing remains, to contact the trapped Stalkers and notify them on how to escape the anomaly. But in order to do that, Scar must find a transmitter powerful enough to contact them.

Scar is directed back to the Military warehouses, where he reunites with the Mercenary friends of Leshiy. They know of a military radio transmitter that is powerful enough to transmit the needed coordinates to Leshiy's team. Unfortunately, it is guarded at a base by what is believed to be the last of the Military. The leader pairs Scar up with a small band of Freedom soldiers commanded by Kostyan, who are making a raid at the same place in order to secure the area for Freedom. After fighting heavy resistance at the base, Scar powers up the transmitter and waits as Leshiy and his team free themselves. They then inform Scar that they are now on the other side of the bridge. Lebedev acts immediately on this development. Convincing Leshiy and his team to aid Clear Sky in reaching the other side, a large contingent of Clear Sky soldiers heads to the bridge, awaiting Scar's arrival so they can make a push. When he does get there, he assists Lebedev and the Clear Sky forces to provide cover from Bandits snipers for Leshiy's team, while they lower the drawbridge. Afterward, there are many thanks all around and the path is clear. Scar moves out with the first advance team heading into Limansk.

The pressure is on at this stage. Limansk has been turned into a street war between Bandits, remaining Military forces, and the Monolith faction. Clear Sky helps Scar push through the war-torn streets, having to face many problems. From clearing out a machine-gun nest, Scar has to survive multiple Monolith ambushes until he reaches a partially-constructed multi-story building, heavily defended by Monolith forces. After making it out, he helps cut power to electrical fences blocking the way out of Limansk. After he has made it through, the only thing that's left is to take an underground passage located just past an abandoned hospital. Another advance team is pinned down by Monolith, who are swarming in the hospital. Scar and Clear Sky forces work together to push through the hospital to reach the NPP on the other side. There is harsh resistance, but Scar pulls through. But during the process, a Mi-2 controlled by the Military appears. It opens fire on everyone in the Hospital, including Scar. Scar defeats the helicopter alone while the Clear Sky team catches up. As they reach the tunnels, the team stays behind, giving Scar a window to reach the NPP.

The final battle is at hand. Strelok is in the vicinity, defending himself from both Monolith and Clear Sky. Lebedev thanks Scar for helping them reach the center and now needs his help to settle things once and for all. Given a prototype Electromagnetic Pulse rifle, Scar must use it to disrupt the psy-blocker device Strelok is wearing. Without the aid of the device, Strelok cannot survive the potent psi emissions for long, and Lebedev believes that the activity in the Zone will stabilize after Strelok is defeated. Fighting his way through swarming Monolith soldiers, Scar uses the Gauss Rifle to disrupt the device and succeeds.

After Strelok is defeated, readings are taken to see if the stabilization is beginning. Suddenly, an unexpected and massive emission occurs, reaching levels far beyond the norm. Everyone within proximity to the plant, Clear Sky or otherwise, is hit and begins succumbing to the effects of the emission. During the closing cut-scene, they can be seen crowded in the corridors of the NPP, shaking unnaturally, whilst video screens flash of historic images of the NPP with distorted black and white images. These signs foreshadow that those not already killed outright by the blast are about to experience a worse fate: brainwashed to become part of the Monolith forces; or, like Strelok, becoming unwitting agents of the Common Consciousness.

The scene is now set for the Shadow of Chernobyl episode of the Zone saga to unfold, with the story continuing as seen through Strelok's eyes.

Factions[]


  • State Security Service- The Ukrainian armed forces, stationed in the zone to prevent any stalker activities. They are hostile to all factions except to the ecologists. Their main base is on the Southern part of the Cordon, with a secondary base in the Military Warehouses.
  • Clear Sky - A scientific faction trying to understand the zone and learn about it, Clear Sky is the first Faction the player encounters in the game. Their base of operations is on the south-western section of the swamps west of the Cordon.
  • Renegades - Renegades are a faction similar to the Bandits. They are at war with Clear Sky, and their main base is in the north-east section of the swamps, just north-east of the machine yard.
  • Loners - A nomadic faction of stalkers who are united because of aggressions from the military and bandit factions. Their main base is in the Cordon, where they also have other camps scattered around, including the Rookie camp. They also have the "Flea Market" camp in the Garbage and a large station in the Agroprom base. They are at war with the Bandits, and tolerant of Duty and Freedom.
  • Bandits - A faction at war with the Loners, tolerant of Freedom, and hostile to Duty. Their main base is in the railway maintenance "depot" in the Garbage.
  • Duty - A paramilitary faction trying to "kill" the Zone and stop it from spreading. Considers the Zone evil and alive. They make their base in the Agroprom research center, where they are constantly besieged by mutants from the underground tunnels and are at war with the Freedom faction. They are tolerant to Loners, and hostile to Bandits.
  • Freedom - A paramilitary faction trying to make the Zone available for everyone, so that mankind can benefit from its wonders. They are at war with Duty, and are tolerant of Loners and Bandits. They are based in the Dark Valley in the factory area, and are constantly harassed by Mercenaries.
  • Mercenaries - Carry out different tasks for money, basically for anyone.
  • Monolith - A faction of religious and brainwashed zealots whose religious interests focus on the Chernobyl NPP in the zone. They are tough, well-equipped, and hostile to all other factions.
  • Military Stalkers - Loners hired by the Army, hostile to all other factions.
  • Ecologists - Scientists who hire Loners and other factions to protect themselves from Zombified Stalkers so that they can continue their Zone research in peace. Their mobile research facility is in Yantar near the pond.

Weapons[]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky features 42 weapons, including seven variants. Most return from Shadow of Chernobyl, along with three additions: the RP-74, the HPSS-1m, and the Hunting shotgun. 19 cut weapons, including 15 variants, exist in the game files. With the X-Ray 1.5 engine, all weapons benefit from new animations, including reloading, shooting, etc. The attachments system returns with no real change compared to the previous game.

X-Ray 1.5 Engine[]

Advancements made in 1.5 include Volumetric lighting (a.k.a. 'Crepuscular rays' or 'God-rays'), volumetric smoke, volumetric fire, soft water, dynamic wet surfaces (with water streaming down the sides of surfaces), depth-of-field blur, DirectX 10 support, SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) and more. However, the game maintains the same minimum system requirements as Shadow of Chernobyl, and is scalable enough to run on outdated DirectX 8 hardware.

Version 1.5.03 of the game supports Multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA) for DirectX 10, while version 1.5.06 adds support for DirectX 10.1.

Reception[]

Reception for Clear Sky has been generally favorable. PC Zone UK and Games Master UK have both given Clear Sky a score of 88 out of 100, while Edge Magazine gave 7/10 saying the game "turns the best and worst of PC gaming into something extraordinary". [2] GamesTM gave the game 90/100 saying "Clear Sky chiefly succeeds because it transforms grim fantasy into a startlingly real-world experience". [2] PCGamer UK however, awarded the game 68% saying it is "The disappointment of the year", particularly criticizing the increased difficulty, and that the atmosphere of the zone was not as well-delivered as the original.[3]

X-play's review was generally unfavorable at 60%, citing boring environments, glitches, and antiquated gameplay. GameSpot gave it 7.0/10 due to its glitches while hoping that patches would eventually fix some major issues. In GameSpot's "Best of 2008" the game was nominated in just one category, in "Best atmosphere"; however, it lost to Dead Space.

Bug Reports[]

Clear Sky was released upon August 22nd, 2008 in Russia, with a patch being available at release (Patch (computing)|Patch version 1.5.03 for the International version, said to be identical to the Russian version 1.01 patch). It was soon after reported, on the GSC-gaming official forum among other places, that both the unpatched and patched Russian version suffered from severe stability issues. These included Crashes to Desktop (CtD), Blue Screens of Death (BSOD), bugs that made the game unplayable, and general poor performance of the game even on high-end systems. These reports were not unanimous, however, and several other members of the boards reported that they had few or no issues with stability, even if bugs in-game remained prevalent. These latter reports proved suspect, given the change logs from GSC accompanying subsequent patches which identified many script errors being fixed. These script errors always resulted in a CtD, which the forums had consistently been reporting.

On September 5th 2008, the game was officially released in the rest of the world, except in North America and on various online distributors. Reports of poor performance are still prevalent around the official forum and some of the fansites. Since then, the game has been patched several times and the latest is now currently 1.5.10, fixing most of the game-breaking bugs that were present upon release. However, some players are continuing to report severe bugs with the game, including severe graphical issues that were not present in 1.5.04. One of the new now potentially game-breaking gameplay bugs is the crash to desktop that happens when attempting to talk to wounded characters.

Some players reported problems with game's StarForce and Tagès copy protection that prevented the game from starting even when the original DVD was inserted.[4]

Known fixes include the community-made Sky Reclamation Project, aimed at fixing as many in-game issues as possible.

Limited Editions[]

Separate limited-edition versions of the game were released in conjunction with the standard version.

The Russian limited edition is presented in a larger box and contains the game disc, a bonus disc, two kerchiefs, an A2-sized map of the Zone, several patches with logos of the game's factions, a dog tag, a custom lighter, and a little white ball called "The Clear Sky Artifact".

The second limited edition, released in the rest of the world, is presented in a metal box and also contains a bonus disc filled with extras (such as bonus artwork, screen savers, making of videos, and the soundtrack) and the A2-sized map of the Zone.

A Polish limited edition, presented in a medkit-like bag with the game's logo contains a game disc, soundtrack, patch with logo of one the game's factions, stickers with logos, small map of the Zone, and a t-shirt with the game's logo on its chest and inscription "Сделано в Чернобыле" ("Made in Chernobyl") on its back.

Digital Rights Management[]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky uses digital rights management (DRM) software Tagès as copy prevention. Some versions can only be installed on a limited number of machines (5)[5] [6].

Many people are also experiencing issues registering the game at all. Tagés offers two ways of registering the product: an Automatic Mode, which automatically communicates with the Verification Server, and a Manual Mode, where one can access a code via a web browser.

External links[]

Development and cut content[]

See also: Category:Clear Sky cut content

In early development, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky was originally known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anarchy Cell. While most of the story remained intact until release, some elements were changed.

Scar, the game's protagonist, was known instead as Messer, a guide leading International Scientific Group stalkers (United Nations, based on text on their patches) on a mission deep into the Zone, towards the Generators, a place where time and space were not bound by laws of physics.

Suddenly, a blowout took place and Messer reappears on the outskirts of the Zone, in the Marsh. Eventually, he is rescued by Clear Sky and recruited to track down Strelok before his incursions into the heart of the Zone can destroy it. However, it is not the real stalker - he has been copied by the noosphere, which gained consciousness in the process. The game progression also differed slightly - after uniting the warring factions, Messer was supposed to find a key that would allow him to reach the Cartographer, a legendary stalker that knew how to get everywhere in the Zone - who would become Forester in the final release, living in a small Orthodox chapel. He would tell the hero how to reach Ghost City, through which the NPP can be reached safely and Strelok intercepted before he can trigger another massive blowout.

Compared to the Anarchy Cell design document, little has been cut, with the exception of the Pripyat Underground and the infant consciousness of the noosphere as a third, sinister force in the Zone. Some locations have been drastically altered or cut, such as the hideout in the Garbage. Rather than being a small basement under the Flea market, it was an underground area under one of the garbage heaps.

The Limansk Hospital was originally named Catacombs and was located somewhere underneath the railroad tunnel between Garbage and Agroprom. Another level referred to as "Bridge over Pripyat' River" is mentioned in the design documents, leading to Agroprom. There was a small level referred to as Old Stalker Place which is simply the area around Forester. Cartographer's place is another cut level, resembling a small chapel.

The Jupiter level that later appeared in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat was also due to appear in Clear Sky. Within the game files, one can find a terrain map which features the Jupiter factory and the surrounding area.

The box art of the game is based on art from Ivan Khivrenko. He often photographed relatives or friends for his art. The concept seems to be loosely tied to an initial tie-in with Scar's mercenary backstory, but that has not been seriously explored during development.

References[]

https://vk.com/@slavarblog-two-unknown-persons-stalker-clear-sky-cover-art

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