Stalker: Anomaly – A broken side quest completed

Posted on | by I and I

Game crashed again. This time crashed hard on exit. Thought nothing of it at the time. Has happened before. Didn’t check the logs though. Just murdered the process and went on about “IRL” things.

Hours later, tried to jump back into the Zone. It wouldn’t load.

Sigh.

I really can’t complain to anyone. I am running the sandbox on an unsupported operating system which makes this not only my problem, but excellent troll material for the Windows fanboys.

Executed the game from the command line. Much easier to observe the programs behavior. Debugs show It stuck in the following loop when the corrupt saves were selected.

…
0041:err:ntdll:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 0x88cc0 “?” wait timed out in thread 0041, blocked by 0030, retrying (60 sec)
0041:err:ntdll:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 0x88cc0 “?” wait timed out in thread 0041, blocked by 0030, retrying (60 sec)
004e:err:ntdll:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 0xb9ce0 “?” wait timed out in thread 004e, blocked by 0030, retrying (60 sec)

…
The obligatory Google search wasn’t very helpful at this time.

Began loading the auto saves chronologically in reverse. Joy! It seems that I can start from about thirty “in game” minutes earlier. I’m fine with that.

Go auto saves! 

Let’s see now. Currently heading towards the Dead City. I will need to sell some loot. Oh and a broken side quest is now working?
“This can’t be right.” I mumbled out loud. 
It seems that earlier I had scavenged a damaged Desert Eagle from a some random NPCs body in Limansk. That pistol was not at all in the condition stipulated by that contract. Yet this reload and that item acquisition seems to have triggered the side quest, and lo and behold Henri, the Loner who requested the search. Well surprise stalker! That NPC is alive and well. He is currently at the Agroprom Factory complex and judging by his GPS activity, he’s probably engaged in a fight. 
Should make haste. Try to reach him before he gets killed.

I traded what I could with the Dead City population. Had to lighten my load. There was some distance to cover and no time for fatigue. Checked inventory once more and began the journey.  

The run to Yantar was mostly uneventful. One lonely Fracture at the complex West gate and a single Pseudo dog at the East gate. Both were easily disposed of with my trusty semi-automatic shotgun. The final Agroprom stretch was a breeze. An easy jog along the edge of the swamp right into the Factory complex. 
At last, there he was. Up on the North ramp by the Trolleys. Had his weapon in hand and was sashaying back and forth as if doing a jig. His war was still going on. I could hear gunshots but could not see his targets. I hustled my way over to his position taking cover as I go and shadowed him. He began a flank along the tracks to the left. I followed. Rifle in hand scanning every possible opening for hostiles. Wasn’t about to let him get killed. Not before completing this contract.
Then a final shot rang out from beyond the main gate. Seems this battle is now over, these Loners have prevailed.

I hurried over to Henri and handed him his prize.  In exchange he gave me about five hundred Rubles. Kind of a slap in the face when you think about it. But what was I expecting? A fucking parade. This was a very old side quest, broken and unable to complete. An permanent stain on my to do list is now gone. Still, there are more contracts to complete.

Did not get the Artifact he promised. Not that it matters anymore. The rest of the Zone awaits.