Number of maps in the Zone?

1 Agroprom
2 Agroprom Underground
3 Army Warehouses
4 ATP
5 Backwater
6 Bar
7 Black Market
8 Broken Road
9 Caves
10 Cemetery
11 Cordon
12 Courtyards
13 Dark Valley
14 Darkscape
15 Dead City
16 Dead Marshes
17 Distribution Center
18 Dump
19 East Pripyat
20 End Station
21 F1
22 Firing Range
23 Forgotten Forest
24 Generators
25 Hole in the Ground
26 Hospital
27 Jupiter
28 Jupiter Underground
29 Labyrinth
30 Limansk
31 Lost Village
32 NPP North
33 NPP South
34 Pripyat
35 Radar
36 Recon
37 Red Forest
38 Research Station
39 Sarcophagus
40 Sarcophagus secret area (O-Consciousness)
41 Secret Laboratory (= X-14?)
42 Swamps
43 Techniques
44 Tunnels ("Southern Tunnels")
45 Waiting Room
46 Warlab
47 Wasted Woodland
48 Wild Territory
49 X-10
50 X-16
51 X-18
52 X-8
53 Yantar

1 Agroprom
2 Agroprom Underground
3 Army Warehouses
4 ATP
5 Backwater
6 Bar
7 Black Market
8 Broken Road
9 Caves
10 Cemetery
11 Cordon
12 Courtyards
13 Dark Valley
14 Darkscape
15 Dead City
16 Dead Marshes
17 Distribution Center
18 Dump
19 East Pripyat
20 End Station
21 F1
22 Firing Range
23 Forgotten Forest
24 Generators
25 Hole in the Ground
26 Hospital
27 Jupiter
28 Jupiter Underground
29 Labyrinth
30 Limansk
31 Lost Village
32 NPP North
33 NPP South
34 Pripyat
35 Radar
36 Recon
37 Red Forest
38 Research Station
39 Sarcophagus
40 Sarcophagus secret area (O-Consciousness)
41 Secret Laboratory (= X-14?)
42 Swamps
43 Techniques
44 Tunnels ("Southern Tunnels")
45 Waiting Room
46 Warlab
47 Wasted Woodland
48 Wild Territory
49 X-10
50 X-16
51 X-18
52 X-8
53 Yantar

Open the console (on my UK keyboard this is the key below ESC) and type in demo_record 1. The basic controls are w/s = up/down, a/d = left/right. q/e= rotate. (The only way I have found to move forward/back is to turn sideways and use a/d.)

Sword2012When it comes to mapping and topographical layout, IMO there's no greater source of knowledge, information, and wisdom than pchester, and I can add only a little

These descriptions are taken from the StalkerSoup files, and should give you a better sense of immersion and what to expect later in the game:

Techniques
Once a prestige research establishment, the only remaining signs of a normal, more prosperous life here are an old motor pool facility, a section of railway ending in collapsed tunnels, and some long-abandoned houses and trailers. Techniques became a victim of its own research after a freak accident involving multiple shifting Teleport anomalies literally tore it apart piece by piece, leaving little but a natural dumping ground for radioactive waste and vehicles from the surrounding area

Like the Dump, its accessibility makes it a nexus point for travelers heading north, east, south and west, though the majority of its traffic focuses on getting through as quickly as possible. Which is why stalkers refer to taking the main road from Waiting Room to Research Station, along which heaps of radioactive waste are piled high each side of the road, as 'running the gamma ray gauntlet'...


Excavation Site (formerly Hole in the Ground)
Formed when a sudden confluence of unstable Teleport anomalies, all vying for the same piece of spacetime, wreaked havoc at the entrance and car park of a secure research facility at Techniques. The ensuing devastation that followed necessitated a complete evacuation of personnel and sensitive material from the site

Only after the area had stabilized, and anomalous activity ceased, could a thorough investigation be carried out. It was found that not only had several visitors' and public vehicles taken up new residence underground, but many had disappeared completely. Some were later discovered, mostly intact, in other parts of the Zone, though the vast majority were not recovered

A deep and careful excavation, to find out how far the damage had spread, unearthed a surprising discovery - a single underground static teleport, close to a bus which had formerly served the railway station at another research center involved in similar lines of scientific inquiry, and creating a perfect quantum connection between the two places. However, though certainly interesting, and potentially useful, it was considered far too unorthodox, let alone risky, to be used by government personnel, and was eventually fenced off for safety

When the Techniques site was closed down permanently after the 2006 incident, and turned into a radioactive rubbish dump, this underground bolthole became a popular refuge for bandits, who were happy to accept these dark, damp, and dirty lodgings for the convenience of its built-in 'emergency exit'...