S.T.A.L.K.E.R Plot Discussion [Spoiler]

[lazerus]

Removed from the other thread by request.

I found a lot of stalkers plot to be confusing and poorly explained....how did C-consciousness do what it did? Why did killing them make the zone go away when supposedly they were helping to contain a problem they already created? How was C-consciousness able to control the Monolith forces, since they obviously didn't use Brain Boil or the Miracle Machine for it. Why couldn't they use that same method on the attacking Freedom, Duty, Government, and Stalker forces?

And, perhaps most importantly...does anyone here understand the good ending? I couldn't make out the whispers on the wind, and the significance of the face in the grass is lost to me.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Removed from the other thread by request.

I found a lot of stalkers plot to be confusing and poorly explained....how did C-consciousness do what it did?

Apparently there is a field surrounding the Earth related to psionic energy. Individuals can't affect it, but with the C-Consciousness project the minds of 6-7 people were combined, which caused a crack in the aforementioned field, thus creating the zone.

Why did killing them make the zone go away when supposedly they were helping to contain a problem they already created?

Two explanations--
A) Killing them did not actually make the zone go away. Hence Strelok saying "I don't know whether I was right or wrong." Maybe he was merely teleported to a location outside the zone after destroying C-Consciousness.
B) The C-Consciousness guy was full of shit, and they were actually maintaining the Zone as a side effect of perpetuating their psionic powers and unitary consciousness.

How was C-consciousness able to control the Monolith forces, since they obviously didn't use Brain Boil or the Miracle Machine for it.

If you paid attention to what he was saying, they used the Brain Scorcher to capture and reprogram stalkers. The Monolith forces would simply be Stalkers captured and then programmed to defend Chernobyl; they didn't have to be constantly controlled.

Why couldn't they use that same method on the attacking Freedom, Duty, Government, and Stalker forces?

What method are you talking about?

And, perhaps most importantly...does anyone here understand the good ending? I couldn't make out the whispers on the wind, and the significance of the face in the grass is lost to me.

Not sure what you're talking about, again. I can't make out any face and I think the whispers you're talking about are just ambient noise.

[lazerus]

What method are you talking about?

If you paid attention to what he was saying, they used the Brain Scorcher to capture and reprogram stalkers. The Monolith forces would simply be Stalkers captured and then programmed to defend Chernobyl; they didn't have to be constantly controlled.

No, they implied that, but they also said: "We immediately seized control of those running the project, and assigned them to the tasks we needed done." That was before the brain scorcher even existed.

[Pablo Sanchez]

No, they implied that, but they also said: "We immediately seized control of those running the project, and assigned them to the tasks we needed done." That was before the brain scorcher even existed.

The fact that they were able to seize control of a relatively small group of people on one specific occasion doesn't mean that they could arbitrarily take control of any number of people at any time. The "tasks" they reference were probably the construction of the Brain Scorcher and the Wish Granter device. With that side of the enterprise taken care of, the C-Consciousness guys could concentrate on whatever else they had going on.

[Velthuijsen]

Apparently there is a field surrounding the Earth related to psionic energy. Individuals can't affect it, but with the C-Consciousness project the minds of 6-7 people were combined, which caused a crack in the aforementioned field, thus creating the zone.

From what I read as the ending it is not so much a psionic field as a information field that contains the representation of everything on earth. By manipulating the field you can therefore manipulate basically anything in on earth including behavior, thoughts, etc.
That is how this collective tried to remove negative behavior from humanity.

Why couldn't they use that same method on the attacking Freedom, Duty, Government, and Stalker forces?

Seeing that they did use the scorcher, other machines of that type and monolith to control those forces have to get into range of said machines.

[loomer]

Just finished the game the first time...

I missed out on some of the plot, and I got the oh so delightful moneybags ending. I am, however, mildly confused as to exactly why the C-consciousness would tattoo its agents with STALKER. Wouldn't that only serve to give their purpose away if it was ever discovered?

[TheMuffinKing]

Was there an explanation for the wish granter machine? Was it alien, or some semi fictitious C-Consciousness construct?

[Velthuijsen]

Was there an explanation for the wish granter machine? Was it alien, or some semi fictitious C-Consciousness construct?

An illusion generated by the same class of machine that is responsible for the Brain Scorcher and producing Poltergeists.

[PeZook]

Hmm.

I just finished the game and don't know what to think. On one hand, I think I liked the Monolith endings the most, since they kept the mood of the entire game. On one hand, it doesn't explain shit - and it seems that the story's better that way. Mystery is what keeps the game going, IMHO.

On the other hand, I like happy endings. And Strelok gets fucked over every time, even with the good ending - he doesn't know if he did the right thing, and for all we know, the Zone will now spread like wildfire. The fact that it was nice and sunny in the video means nothing - it can be nice inside the Zone, with birds chirping and all that jazz. But then a horrible mutant comes to eat you and spill your guts all over the nice, green grass.

So I'm confused. And it doesn't help that I've got no idea what kind of ending would be better

[K. A. Pital]

The Wish granter is borrowed from the literary Stalker ("Roadside Picnic" by Strugazky brothers) where the Soviet Zone is one of several Zones in the world, and they are places of alien landings. Because of the vast amount of borrowings STALKER's own plot struggles to make sense on it's own.

[Nephtys]

A little old, this topic is.. but I'm so very lost. It's interesting that there's an entire red-herring ending device for those who speed through the game (I missed Guide, figured him for a crapy quest), but um. Yeah, is the 'secret' ending particularly more substantive? Either of em?

[PeZook]

A little old, this topic is.. but I'm so very lost. It's interesting that there's an entire red-herring ending device for those who speed through the game (I missed Guide, figured him for a crapy quest), but um. Yeah, is the 'secret' ending particularly more substantive? Either of em?

You don't die. Which, in a way, is more substantive

But there's no real sense of closure to either of them, IMHO.