Game Freeze in Radar

I dropped a backpack in the trailer at the intersection leading to the Dark Valley transition. Since returning from X-10 (post-Sarcophagus), the game started freezing up when I entered the trailer. Now, if I'm anywhere in Radar, it freezes up after 50 seconds (yes, I've timed it). I have to do what I need to do in 45-second intervals and then Quick Save before it freezes again. 

Task Manager shows a very high power usage, but otherwise no significant levels (other than Not Responding). I deleted all but a few saves. Also, I left the map (runs fine there) and came back. Not sure what else I can do.

Sorry Kwag-Myers, I have no idea what could be affecting the whole map. Usually if an item or NPC is causing crashes, it is just in a localised area around the offending item, and you can often avoid it by taking a different route.

Off the top of my head...

Does the problem occur if you use a different entry point such as the transition from Dark Valley or from X-10? Or if you use the [ESC+F2] menu to jump to 'radar' (opposite the Pripyat road) or 'radar2' (house in X-10 compound)?

If you reload a game from before you entered the trailer (i.e., when you say the problem began) and then avoid the trailer, does the game still crash? You should be able to stay well away from it by travelling through the forest. Of course it might mean not being able to reach that stash again until (and if) the problem clears itself later.

You could try working back through your save games, jumping to Radar and see when the problem started. It might not be the backpack, and if it wasn't too far back you might be able to replay from there.

Can you just avoid Radar for the time being? It is possible that the issue will clear by itself after a time.

Other than that, I can only suggest that you send a save game to Aleks (adoler{at}gmail.com) and hopefully he will be able to figure out what is wrong.

Just a long shot but do you have a lot of items stashed in that backpack which could be causing game memory issues?

I did some testing and found that if I didn't take Syak's Deliver the box of tools from Sidorovich task, the game performed as expected. I also performed the tests suggested by pchester and completed the tools task. No matter where I am, or how I transition, the problem persists. The save when I first noticed the issue is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. 

One other thing I should mention: when I first arrived at the trailer after taking Syak's task, the backpack was not visible or accessible. However, the GPS marker was visible. I saved (link) and reloaded to resolve the issue.

I tried your save game and got the same result. I tried everything I could think of, including moving your entire stash to the Bar, but on returning to Radar the game still crashes after ~50 secs, just as you said.

You said that the crashes only started after you took Syak's mission. If it is something to do with that mission (I can't think why, but what do I know?), the only other thing I can think of to try is to use an info portion to complete the mission without actually taking it. The info portion is sak_repair_box_done. I don't have your save from before taking the mission, but I tested it in my own game before talking to Syak and he then offered me his next mission (to

Spoiler:

Of course, I haven't been having the same problem in my game, so I don't know if this will help you, but it might be worth a try.

Alternatively, to avoid the first task altogether,  sak_gold_fish_start should jump straight to the second task. (if he then offers the first task again, I would ignore it and go straight for the one about useful artefact recipes (his third task).

NB: You would miss Syak's reward for his tools mission:

Spoiler:

The recipe and suit can be spawned in if you really want them, and the door code should work regardless.