Equipment And Inventory
A Stalker carries everything with him, but carrying capacity is limited to 50 kg — a few kilos more will lower the endurance you need for running and jumping, and if you are really overweight you won’t be able to move anymore. If you want to carry more than 50 kg, you can improve your armor suit with a weight distribution system.
The basic equipment consists of a flashlight, knife, binoculars, detectors, and steel bolts to activate anomalies. You have two holsters into which to put your hand gun and rifle; you can put magazines and bullets in your inventory. Grenades stay in the inventory, but you can select them just like weapons and throw them one at a time.
You can select the main equipment with the keys 1 through 5. If you press the same key twice, the Stalker puts the weapon away and his hands are empty. This is necessary when you talk to your allies, because they become very nervous when you’re carrying a gun in your hands. The anomaly detector requires one hand; in the other one you can carry a knife or hand gun. It’s worth nothing that you can use the flashlight even when you’re carrying a two-handed weapon.
A detector, pistol, rifle, and armor are all part of the equipment package. On the armor are round slots that you can activate as an upgrade, in which you can stick artifacts that improve your armor against abnormal environmental influences. Underneath are equipment bars showing your endurance (light blue), life energy (red), and the state of your armor (dark blue). The dial gauge displays fire damage, acid, radiation, and telepathic influence. The protection level is displayed as a number next to these; to the right is an inventory with the rest of the stuff. Above is your available money in rubles and at the very bottom you can see the weight you are carrying.
If you are wounded, use a med kit. If the wound is bleeding you use a bandage first, then treat the wound with the med kit. Food improves your life energy, and energy drinks improve endurance. If you’ve come in contact with radiation you can have an injection or drink some good vodka (which makes Stalker swerve as he walks!)
