User blog:Byte Me/The Good Stuff - and where to find it (a Veteran's tale)

Previous blog readers will know that this usually goes something like:
 * "I really liked - yada yada yada.."

Well this blog about recent experience (trans: exploits - in all senses) tries to take a stab at making the useful stuff come to the player, give the player a buzz from "zone_buzz", encourages them to have a whirl of the dice with "zone_mosquito_bald" an extra special whirl with "zone_mincer_meat", and as many as suit their fancy elsewhere.

Some Background

 * 1) Lost Alpha Developer's Cut was released in its final version less than 6 months ago.
 * 2) From here on I'm going to refer to this as 1.4007. Not even a 'v' - unless I forget.
 * 3) I had a go at writing some sort of "crib sheet" for the game a long, long, time ago (in a version far, far, away...) more about that soon.
 * 4) It takes TIME to figure out just what the flying fuck the devs have inserted (subtracted) from the game this time...
 * 5) There was mild, but sustained gentle bitching about this wiki not reflecting this or that "new thing" in the 1.4007 release instanta or that I was under instruction 'to insert it for them'
 * 6) NEWSFLASH (just to permanently remove confusion) - Lost Alpha Wiki is totally independent of the game devs. TOTALLY. It's a knowledge base for a complicated game that became MORE complex.
 * 7) IN OTHER NEWS - Just as the game got more complex - the "User Manual" became simpler and less relevant.
 * 8) Corollary to (7) - this sly 'simplification' of the manual also quietly 'revised' the "system requirements" without fanfare or explanation to the effect that 32-bit support was no longer retained.
 * 9) I am playing this on an XPSP3 32-bit OS as you read... (But how you do this is a bit of a black art)


 * But enough "bitching" let's just say that I have "issues" and be PC about it.

More Background

 * I could NOT be writing this blogpost without the more recent additions collated by ElessarTheOnly. Without his expert help, the templates on this wiki would still look like the shyte created by me.
 * Not only that, but without his intervention, all of the Placements - just wouldn't exist.


 * So there are some useful articles that will provide invaluable background colour to this blog:
 * 1) Main Mission Strategy (Written for v1.3003, progressively obsolescent from v1.4002, obsolete as of 1.4007)
 * 2) Placements (cross-version evolution of "free stuff" split into three sub-categories:)
 * 3) Armour Placements
 * 4) Artifact Placements
 * 5) Item Placements
 * 6) Weapon Placements
 * 7) Badlands (going there could save dosh)
 * 8) Artifacts (less useful - see individual pages)
 * 9) Artifact Parameters (the missing link..)


 * With all of this out of the way, how do we play this for what the devs forget about:
 * FUN.
 * Failing that, a bit of enjoyment..
 * A little satisfaction?
 * A few endorphin hits?? (get another game / app).

Day ONE

 * Goals:


 * 1) Get hold of 2-3 Jellyfish.
 * 2) Maybe a Night Star or two.
 * 3) A Devil's Guts or better..
 * 4) Keep hold of the Mail jacket..
 * 5) Be at least 50000 Ru richer...
 * 6) Buy a fucking knife ffffsake..
 * 7) Sleep it off.
 * BUT:


 * You wake as Strelok in a wooly jumper and fucking squat else as - there's some crap in a closet but you don't score a Knife or a Binoculars because the devs go for "balance". No-one knows which actual planet the devs claim as their Homeworld. Many hope for.. well enough digression, BOT.
 * Maybe you chat in detail to Sidorovich - probably you cut to the chase.
 * You WILL need a Knife.
 * You HAVE to buy it.
 * It will set you back 750Ru.
 * U R Skint. Sir or madam.
 * But Sid will reward you with a mighty 300Ru for finding a Thorn in a pretty dangerous local swamp.
 * Run up the flags.
 * Break out the fizzy crap.
 * Woo hoo. Etcetera.
 * You still can't buy a fucking Knife (and you will get your own highly useless Thorn a bit later
 * So you string along with Proverb (because - in two years - everyone has seen the need to introduce a character NPC where no character NPC went before (and everyone is falling over themselves to article-ize this NPC)
 * And in v1.4005 he gifts you an Xray PDA Downloads module or in 1.4007 a set of peepers - but he don't pony up a fukkin Knife... This -- you buy...
 * You do his daft 'cleaning' tasks - because you must. (Loot the "first contact" on the way) Let this twit waste good 9x39mm PAB-9 ammo on Flesh and Boar packs. Help if you can, but look to loot  for later. Stay out of Radiation areas with the piggies. That's almost certain death at this stage. Soon, it won't be.
 * With luck - you have an abundance of Boar's hoof and Flesh eyes. More likely not. So you check the Rookie Village out for various Placements. Sadly, there's no Stalker suit in an attic (SoC), but there is an unholy metric shedload of alternative crap. Look around. Or read up on it. Tbah Cordon(Lost Alpha) is RICH - in crap.
 * On your way back to Siddo, make a gamesave somewhere in the open between the contact and the swamp. Rerun the Flesh cutscene until something useful 'drops out' - use console - read Artifact Spawns to see how; avout the best you can get is a Devil's guts - but hey! now it's a +15 Rad protection artifact. Don't sell it, wear it awhile. Stone Blood you can plough back into the game. Meat Chunk too for that matter..

Day ONE.25

 * Good old Sidorovich ("Old, sick and down there") magnanimously sends you ("young, fertile and up there") to 'do-shit' at the Old Factory.
 * No biggie. Just "fuck shit up" - It's your assumed middle name... No sweat.
 * Interim report:


 * Lowlife exterminated - check
 * Crappy quest arty scored off the other permastiff -check..
 * NP so far - dear old siddie needs this dreck..
 * Did you cop for the Mail jacket? Get it stat. Wear it - for the next 3-4 days at least...

Day ONE.5

 * You do have that Mail jacket right? You loot it from a rookie Bandit.
 * With care, you can complete half of the board with that junk. Hard to believe now, but true.
 * Another miscreant rip-off merchant has designs on this particular suit - Nimble - but he will pony up a reward that includes a Jellyfish...
 * Since the player might have other aims than 'helping' NoNutz, let's look at the realities of the situation.

Reality check #1

 * Mostly incredibly shyte across the LA Zone, with the exception of v1.4002 "Jellyfish" are crap.
 * In 1.4007 they are like gold dust into the middle game...
 * All useful artifacts are radioactive, very few neutralize this. The Jelly counters a whopping TWO points of Radiation, three of them get the player started with some protection 'edges', even choices of 'edges'.
 * Likewise, the "Mail Jacket" (in actual fact - a fukkin' DOUBLE Mail Jacket in 1.4007 - will suffice until either you or I return (with scars) from Darkscape..
 * It's twice as bulletproof as the poxy Leather jacket and will fit a 'bum bag' extralift for about 400Ru and a bit of other padding - dealer's choice..
 * Siddo want rescue of the other twat that works for him. As well as Fox.


 * So you rescue Fox and NumbBrainz as usual.

Reality Check #2

 * NimBrainz will give you 4000Ru for what you wear (spots you back to an all-seeing, all dancing Leather jacket.
 * Don't.Think.So. There's money to be taken off the table soon and it'll get anyone a serious headstart by Day 2.
 * But this is Day 1 - so you do a few sidies for Siddie, buy your precious knife and run back and forth, etc.
 * You can't trade captured bodyparts with Siddie during a Blowout as you could in v1.4002 (that was boring fun!! - make 30000 during a Blow! Halcyon days..)
 * Siddo wants you to do a suicide job anyway. It's straightforward crap. You know what the score is.
 * While you're waiting for zero hour (22.00h) you make yourself useful...


 * 1) There's zero point in topping the rookie mil sniper at Bridge Checkpoint. It was funfunfun in v1.3003, sadsadsad from 1.4005, an unmitigated shitfest in 1.4006, and about as good in1.4007. The weapon will be trashed anyway.
 * So leave the poor twat alone...
 * Liberating the free Jellyfish from the tin in the car between the Bridge Checkpoint and Sin House is far more important. For sure.
 * Likewise, that Wagon Key for Wolf is useful, the "stash" - not so much...
 * Playing 'Spawn the Zombie" in the Trade Route Tunnel is a high priority...
 * In v1.4002 this could be a goldmine for Spring artys, now, they're not so handy just yet. Try to peel the Zombies off one-by-one and walk the poor sods into the springboards. A pair of Night Stars and a couple of Jellies would be considered a result. Just don't kill your actor (too much..) The Flesh outside can play in the Whirligigs by the tunnel entrance, but not easily - might get another Devil's guts if lucky and find it upstairs ON the tunnel outside..
 * Note that your fine Detector "Echo" has a small repertoire and you're still (probably) working without a Simple anomaly detector. Just watch where you go...
 * (This will change forever in a few hours)

Day 0.8

 * The suicide job. Well, you do it because a LOT of good stuff hinges on it. The whole Documents Thread in fact and that soon brings in some useful artys (Spring, Shell, Battery..)
 * Ain't hard anyway. Leaves you a bit trembly the first time you do it, and what else do you need to do?
 * You already kicked Sleepy Nimble and got the agreement and first jobs (but you DON'T give the Mail Suit to him yet, let's shag it up a bit first..)
 * You bring Sid his pesky case, settle up for anything, including an Akm 74/2U for the Eliminate Cordon zombies job, and since Sid rips everyone off, you stash odds and ends outside his door in a cupboard.
 * And then you walk back down to the MilPOst to rob the safe. The code is 4-7-1.
 * With the 50000 Ru liberated you are now well heeled to visit Fox.
 * Priorities at this stage :-


 * 1) Upgrade the Echo detector as far as poss.
 * 2) Bumbag on the MJ for 400Ru.
 * 3) Dealer's choice on other fixits and tweaks.
 * 4) Dealer's choice on buying a decent suit from Siddie - and tweaking that..
 * 5) Same as regards a basic detector (I tend not to bother, there's a fine free Elite anomaly detector on Darkscape, and I'll rough it)
 * 6) You can't get a SCOPE. It's no good trying Barkeep either. They are scripted not to sell you this fine accessory yet. Your closest PSO-1 scope is in a crows-nest guarded by a baker's dozen mercs on Darkscape. Later then.


 * Having resolved all of the above, it's getting late so you decide to turn in and sleep for 7 hours. It's dark, Sidorovich sells crap NV and it's heavy.
 * End of Day ONE.

Day TWO

 * Let's review actor status:


 * 1) Most of 50000 richer..
 * 2) Found some so-so rocks that are semi-useful..
 * 3) Got a detector that finds 62 artifacts within a 10m radius. That's gotta help.
 * 4) Rifle, shitgun and pistol (check). Various meds, mostly Bandages and Medkits, and some food water and pop.
 * 5) Spent a bit of time gophering some of this to the Sin House backpack yesterday. That will be one of MY lootdrops as I go up and down the Zones.
 * Sounds OK, maybe splurge on a Xray PDA Downloads module if siddie has it in stock (Barkeep will be more expensive), a couple of boxes of buckshot maybe.


 * Test the Detector "Echo" nearby. My map had a flipping Crescent "Chert" out back and down a radioactive hill by the Whirligig boulders, it used to be a tatty old Wrenched. Keep that for later. The swamp had TWO crappy Thorns in it, which I eventually recovered even though one was in this invisible Grabber thing that the unbought detector wouldn't detect anyway (roll on DScape Lone House)
 * Since I already used an experience point to gain 2.5kg weight carry, that Crescent (with the bumbag) adds 11kg to that in a pinch. bottom line - I can run in the MJ with 42.5kg... For now it will have to do.
 * Since I'm "working for NimRabbit" - and all of his required articles magically spawned upon the board at that point - I'll gradually ferry his other crap down the map as travels permit - or use it a bit first "to check that it works OK".
 * First point of call - Yurik.

(more later)

Later..

 * Shit, as they say, happens... and my game became unstable and "melted down". I haven't seen that happen since 1.3003 and since it was just the first day, I gave the vanilla game a reinstall, deleting the save history, and tried for a similar style playthrough version 2. The only material differences are that in the "new new" game I did the following differently:


 * 1) Had only 'found' two Night Stars, a Shell, a turkey giblets and a poxy Stone Blood in the TRT.
 * 2) Had time spare on Day ONE afternoon, so went up and shafted the Bandit Sniper and used his sorry corpse as a lootdrop for the AK of the doomed one.
 * 3) Saved the SOS dude, lost a medkit in the process, and DIDN'T receive a Flash as reward...
 * 4) Dashed back in time for the black-ops on the Military Checkpoint. No sweat.
 * 5) Day TWO found NO Crescent nor any wanky Thorns nearby, so they're random.
 * 6) Missed the boat to buy an Xray PDA Downloads module off sidddie. (Woulda shoulda coulda...)
 * 7) Found ZERO additional Jellyfish. That's a serious drag.
 * 8) Made an "executive decision" to return Wagon Key EARLY. THAT gets a jelly for sure - and here's the twist - the stash is STILL THERE later on.
 * All caught up?

Day TWO redux

 * Bright and bushy, hit the Hangar for 09:00h...
 * Both Seriy and his 2IC Yurik survive.
 * I remembered to pick up my free pair of Shells at the sniper bridge so now have a whopping 3 Shell + 1 Guts to provide a massive 93% "radiation protection" - that's just GOT to help.
 * So I accept Seriy's 'find a friend' mission because I was going there anyway. Just for effect I accept Kill Garbage zombies too since it now pays 1800 and Zombies now suck (one, two pistol shots with a knife parry) No sweat.
 * So I'm not going to Agroprom any time soon. Yet.
 * I'm not paying 20000 to Warrant Officer for the pleasure of going to the Bar either, so I just do his dumb "Cleaning" job. At this stage I can wear two Night Stars for a bit of protection - 42% - against "rupture". I lure two of three fleshies into a very tame Whirligig that even I can walk through, stab the other one; and use that manhole containing ruin to knife the Boars to oblivion.
 * 1) Total cost 6 pistol rounds and a bandage.
 * 2) Total gain - 10 Boar's hoof (including those from the "pig rush" earlier), and a can of pop.


 * I 'walk off' any other health damage as I lug my loot to the Bus Stop(Great Metal Factory) to make a lootdrop at that backpack.
 * The local loners can whistle dixie about the "dog problem" - I just ignore them. And run past the Pdoggies.
 * I make a save near the Forest gate and pop back to see Barkeep. It's a complete bust, all too ridiculously expensive, but I'll probably buy a memstick when I come back (9 grand man!!)
 * I detour into Wild Territory as far as the Slug placement, grab it and head for Forest(Lost Alpha). My plans DO call for a visit to Yantar(Lost Alpha), but I'll go "the other, easier way" tomorrowish.

Reality check #3

 * See Artifact Parameters:
 * What my goal is, is to enhance my actor's resistance to adverse conditions. Everyone does that. It goes with the game, and to be fair, it was a big part of SoC which this is supposed to be a souped-up version of.


 * So far, I have been lucky enough to have found crap that gives mighty good "rad protec", a crappy amount of "radiation warding", and a non trivial (42%) bit of "rupture" reduction.
 * That's not too shabby for being 30 hours into the game.
 * As the game progresses - these resistances will improve both by virtue of finding better, lighter rocks and through suit upgrades. Everyone does this. It's how the game is played.
 * I'm just going after the "good stuff" to make my playthrough more pleasant.
 * I have ZERO "bulletproofing" enhancement capability, that's ONE of my reasons for hitting Forest, but not the only consideration. It has to do with the dynamics of the combat in the game:
 * Consider:


 * 1) My experience in DC versions indicates that 70-75% of combat is with mutants.
 * 2) Of this 95% involves "rupture" ONLY. (Poltergeists and Pseudogiants also give some "impact" damage and Pyrogeists just dish out "burn" - but these are relatively RARE)
 * 3) About 20% of combat involves "firearms" damage - but you largely get to pick your terms.
 * 4) Of the rest of my opponents, "telepathy" (yeah - Mr C) is only about 3-5% of my problems.
 * 5) "Explosion" only becomes a thing during play at the NPP in the Military fork or the Duty fork. Unless you plan on trolling through minefields, this can be forgotten about (no-one grenades you in vanilla 1.4007)
 * 6) "Burn" and "chemburn" can be important from a purist point of view ("burn" is a factor of the final shootout), but these competences 'develop' if you keep your eyes open.
 * 7) By far the most important are "rupture" and "bulletproofing" - that covers 90+% of combat...
 * So, off to Forest(Lost Alpha)

Day 2.51

 * Objectives:


 * 1) Ignore the "wounded stalker". I want the Compass, but I have little in the way of "telepathy" enhancement, so that'll be another day.
 * 2) I also want the Fungus for rescuing Paulie the Stewpid, so this means:
 * 3) Kill the boars,
 * 4) Farm the Zombie in Music Village grab the Goldfish,
 * 5) Trash the Fleshies,
 * 6) Visit the damn Electro Oasis and Bandit Mine grabbing the poxy Droplets.
 * 7) Rescue twit.

Day 2.75

 * Well this went splendidly...
 * A PAIR of Night Stars, a PAIR of Shells and a crappy Cake pretty much fell into my lap with the zombies. Got everything except the crappy cake - I let it 'bounce around' a bit. Maybe later?
 * Made a save and went to dance with the fleshies. Good job too - a Blowout hit and it was just a tad difficult to run to the Electro Oasis in this shagged out Double-mail jacket. To be honest, and to give every reader a good laugh, I actually arrived 30sec LATE, and fucked up NOT by "psi-death", but by screwing up the route like a rookie and doing the electro 'fry-up'. True story.
 * If only... On a reload I decided to heave crap back to the Duty Checkpoint (Forest) and stash some crap in the safe (like a Guts and a Shell that are superfluous, many Boar's hoof and so on)
 * Sat the blowout out.
 * Continued.
 * Kill flesh, grab droplets (+6 bullet - run up the flags) and I swiped the Mail jacket on a whim BECAUSE THERE ARE NO BLOODY JELLYFISH ON THE MAP. Numbnutz can have his precious delivery, give ME the Jellyfish and I'll do Agroprom in the regular MJ.
 * Came from the south-west to Zombie Hamlet for a bit of variety and dealt with the sadsadsad apologies for Zombified Stalkers that 1.4007 has 'balanced' into the game (these were fearsome up to v1.4002 - now, trash)
 * Half decent gunz though. Paulie can buy those. Grabbed the Cheap stalker suit "Sunrise" something-or-other in the henhouse.
 * Rescued and trotted back with twit. Grabbed the irrelevant tinned Meat Chunk too.
 * Left the level with the top-of-the-range "rupture" Fungus, a battered MJ and a tacky Stalker suit, a TRs 301, a Goldfish, a Droplets, a Jewel from the Oasis and I now have 104% "radiation protection", too much "rupture" to use safely, so I stash a few articles in a hangar greenbox (because EVERYONE uses it) and have a 7 hour nap.

Day 3.0

 * Waking up fresh for more punishment, my goal today is to shake a leg in Agroprom Institute and the Agroprom Underground initially, and then stir the turds in Yantar. Unlike my behaviour in previous releases where I would like the SSP-99M suit from the "bunker" before 'doing Forest', since that suit has been excised from the board, there just isn't that sort of urgency to hit Yantar. But I sorely want the Small toolkit from the Military Scrapyard there before heading to Cordon(Lost Alpha) with crap for Bumble. I also have to plan logistics for transporting considerable booty away from Agroprom including that 5.3kg Personal "Tunder" 5.45 that is soooo precious and becomes "unstashable"... There's also the other wildlife that needs attention, not to mention around 30 miltwits who want my hide on sight. So let's simplify:


 * 1) Help the stalkers (routine)
 * 2) Save Mole...
 * 3) Find Strelok's flash and all that stuff..
 * 4) Help Ratcatcher
 * Sounds like a roughed-out plan (don't ask what can go "wrong")


 * Naturally, I came here with almost no food or water, a pistol full of ammo (still the PMm magging 8) and that crappy Akm 74/2U that Siddo bunged me with a pair of refils.
 * I would like to acquire something better...
 * Unlike a few whiny players who seem to bitch about 'faction relationship' affecting their 'trading abilities', I just take it as seen and get on with it.
 * It would be "nice" if I could get +40 relation points out of the current mission pair and be "friends" with the Loners, because later there's no way to make this deficit up... But if it ain't happening - I won't shed a tear.
 * (I've played TOO MANY games - across TOO MANY VERSIONS - to get worked up about this shit. The market price for anything is its PRICE. Get over that and move on)
 * All I'm after in these skirmishes are resources, not "Brownie Points", most of these fucks will peg out running back with Mole after he's rescued anyway, so just 'grab - sell - drop', nothing fancy...
 * Eventually I get Mole's initial soliloquy - and do a bit more "light looting" on the way out. Everyone does this BS.
 * Get the dirt required. Maybe lose a medkit or two on survivors. Get underground...


 * 1) Find the key, book, flashdrive and GTFO.
 * 2) Stiff any wildlife on the way, because I had been aware of the various locations mentioned in Upgrades data for technicians and thought it 'cool' to liberate the SG 550 data and a spare Tools for rough work just for fun. No Burer, just a pair of Karliks.
 * 3) Returning upside was problematic (maybe I shoulda taken the scenic Clear Sky exit through the warrens to the Rostok Factory(Lost Alpha) tunnel exit - but I was building a respectable stash inside Strelok's Hideout and didn't fancy the alternatives)
 * 4) Kill interfering Mil number one.
 * 5) The Bloodsucker took out another pair...
 * 6) Shot the Blood, and a Mil.
 * 7) Got the upper Burer into "handz up - don't shoot" mode with a bullet. Knifed quickly after.
 * 8) Came up through the sewer hole by a sniper nest. Climbed the nest, gave the occupant a 9x18 mm headache, took his Sniper AKMS only about half-shagged - so maybe useful later on. Bugged out, same sewer. Came up again through the TOP exit (where you usually get sniped badly)
 * 9) Well HE'S recently deceased. I have his piece to prove that...
 * 10) A turgid land run to Ratcatcher and the local Battery placement.
 * 11) A swift lootdrop back in Strelok's Hideout (there's a LOT of shit piling up here...)
 * 12) And a run for the Construction Site gate, past the doggies, another spare Tools for rough work and a run on to Yantar. Alex and Milo can wait, maybe til Freeplay, maybe forever.

Day 3.5

 * Going to Yantar early, just isn't the same. NO SSP-99M suit (removed in 1.4007), jack shit in the way of artifacts (because of 1.4007 and 'balance'), and the place is crawling with Zombified Stalkers just looking to 'wake up'. I'm only here for a fucking Snowflake and a damn Small toolkit. I'm still in a MJ ffs...(of some variety, I tend to forget) So I avoid Snorks and concentrate on that toolkit. Kill 12 zombifieds, trade any loot to the wanky ripoff milguard for a total pittance, grab the Snowflake for its semi-usefuleness, and sod off back to Agroprom.


 * Doesn't take long.
 * Stash any crap in the hideout.. and prep for a shootout.

Day 3.625

 * Over the years my approach to the Agroprom Institute has evolved.


 * 1) I was totally impressed with the 'black ops' walkthrough some kind player wrote for the original SoC gameplay. But it doesn't fit my style. There are 20+ oppos...
 * 2) I used to run (in LA) all the way round to that 'wallbreak', take out the sniper and progress from there.
 * 3) Now I'm just going in 'through the main gate' because the sniper got snuffed...
 * 4) Literally run into the guard house where a "document" is and hole up.
 * 5) If there isn't much crossfire- grab the doc anyway. Knife any glass windows, and wait for shit to arrive...
 * 6) IME this usually removes 8-10 oppos from the board. Economically. On single shot. The crappy Akm 74/2U special found in Strelok's Hideout is ideal for this crap. Other oppos from the hinterlands are also 'drawn in'...
 * 7) Once it's a bit quieter, sprint for the other sniper tower (by the wallbreak)
 * 8) Either Knife or pistol that one - check to see if HIS Sniper AKMS is better than yours - swap out accordingly...
 * 9) If the opposition has suitably been "drawn out" by your shenanigans at this stage, you then run along the back of the AI and Knife-out the glass, run on to the other guardhouse, and wait for shit to arrive (which it will)
 * 10) Knife those windows out as and when, pile up another 10-12 stiffs...
 * 11) All quiet? - fine - now nip round the back again and suss who's waiting on the ground floor for YOU - slot them - and maybe two remain when you go inside in your shagged out Mail jacket. Piece of cake.
 * 12) Grab loot and docs - GTFO.
 * 13) Limp away...

Day 3.8

 * Work out some outline strategy to recover your loot from the Controller predated place that you left it in.
 * Otherwise, bug out and come back later.
 * Get back to Garbage, switch loot at the Sniper stiff (yeah, that's filling up too)
 * Work on that plan to settle up with Nimbutt for the fancy Groza (nopay of course) AND the Viper 5 9x18, this seriously shitty (it's down to 55% usefulness) DMJ, the crappy Skinner Anomaly and maybe put other works in the pipeline..
 * So I waddle down with a shedload (and a sniper rifle AKMS) to see Bumble and Fox.

Day 3.9

 * I discover that Sidorovich looks never to be a retailer of the Xray PDA Downloads module until it's irrelevant.
 * OTOH he's got an Artifact Merger for sale at a cool 40000 (pass)
 * And miracles of miracles, a PSO-1 scope!!! (see it - snag it)
 * Fix-its with Fox and I have a scoped AKM 74/1 AND a tweaked Sniper AKMS
 * Good times! Still no other "rad warding" rocks to be seen. Sleep it off for 7h.

Day 4.0

 * Just for variety - it isn't raining. Gee devs, must be something heavy comming in my direction..
 * On a guess - I check in with Sid to see if he wants a Dog Tail, Hoof or Flesh eye (they're all in that twatty cupboard outside his den anyway) Everyone does this... He doesn't, he wants Jellyfish (never happening) - or Boars or Fleshies snuffed.
 * Incredibly, he has a Chaser 13 to sell. Snagged it, bagged it, tweaked it, sold the Sawn-off Double-barrel Shotgun to some mug.
 * My actor must have a serious Karma problem waiting for K-day...
 * But from a player POV I now strut the strut with
 * 1) a scoped wanky rifle (yeah - I'd prefer an Obokan/AC96/2 but it don't look to be happening)
 * 2) An honest Sniper AKMS rifle (OK it's a bit heavy)
 * 3) A shitgun that mutants HATE.
 * 4) A tweaked ORDINARY Mail jacket to cruise the fleshpots known to be such an attraction in the Dark Valley(Lost Alpha).

Day 4.151592623...

 * You don't think something is amiss with LA? Good luck and "hold that thought" while the game eats you, or gets something to do that for it.


 * With a brief excursion to Barkeep to deliver some shitty docs (and BUY a download stick ffs)
 * The upshot being that you can now Meet Petrenko and become BFF.
 * Run and go fetch more docs on Forest again.
 * I do this small thing and decide after I give it a bit of thought - to do that daft Unlucky stalker non-task at the same time.
 * After all, there are no Bandits there at this time.

Day 4.4

 * Knowing how this sort of, usually, plays out, I feel like rolling the dice to explore a few arcane points about this dumb task.
 * I make a save near his sorry ass, just for reference in case anything goes "wrong".


 * So I wind it back and do it properly, grab all the Forest docs and deliver to Petrenko.

Day 4.6

 * A casual convo with Voronin afterwards sems to have me heading back to Forest.
 * Finally, I seem to have triggered the "Rumble Mission" at the BanMine. Oh goody...
 * I have plans for subterfuge here too...

I manage to get one outside and one just inside the entrance. Looting the bandits has also been productive and I have a few frag grenades handy..
 * After slotting the Bandit contingent, I set up a "warm welcome" for the soon-to-spawn Merc band: this consists of lugging the pair of Petrol cans and dropping them by th entrance where I'm supposed to get ambushed.
 * I grab the crap for Voronin, the Mercs spawn and I make a "safety save".


 * Some light looting of mostly food and meds and a trudge back to the Bar and Voronin.

Day 4.9

 * I decide that it's about time to poke around on Dolina for a bit, so to further this plan I head over to the Pig Farm and put my head down there where it's safe.

Day 5

 * TBAH, I realized the error of my ways, pretty much stopped playing this game on the basis that I was making things too difficult for myself. I had another gamestart - with a few tricks I had learnt - and made a muuuuch better fist of it.
 * There are ways to get a scoped assault rifle very early in the game and to be frank it can be taken to the end of the game - at which point it's a little underweight, but it serves no purpose in the endgame anyway.
 * In my next blog I will detail its acquisition.