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STALKER Lost Alpha Director's Cut

  • Thread starter Deleted Member 16721
  • Start date

Terenty

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 29, 2018
Messages
1,367
I dont get why everyone outside Russia and Ukraine has such a hard on for Stalker as if it was this super ambitious project never seen before.

When it came out it was rightfully shitted on here, because it was 1/4th of the promised features, bugged to hell and there was nothing ambitious remaining whatsoever.

If you want a true masterpiece from Russia play Space Rangers or Space Rangers 2. These games destroy Stalker in every department imaginable i.e. world simulation, factions, balance, economy, difficulty, etc.
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
Well the Lost Alpha DC adds back all the ambitious stuff, making it much deeper and more robust. That's why I made the thread, to recommend this specific mod.
 

Master

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
1,160
If you want a true masterpiece from Russia play Space Rangers or Space Rangers 2. These games destroy Stalker in every department imaginable i.e. world simulation, factions, balance, economy, difficulty, etc.
Oh yeah, that oppressive atmosphere and dark ambient soundtrack of Space Rangers just shit all over kiddie stuff Stalker.
 
Last edited:

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,424
Location
Grand Chien
Well the Lost Alpha DC adds back all the ambitious stuff, making it much deeper and more robust. That's why I made the thread, to recommend this specific mod.
But you've not really provided solid evidence that the mod succeeds at what it attempts to do. And most of us are wary of reinstalling such an old game on the dubious promise of it being transformed by a mod with an extremely bad reputation.
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
But you've not really provided solid evidence that the mod succeeds at what it attempts to do. And most of us are wary of reinstalling such an old game on the dubious promise of it being transformed by a mod with an extremely bad reputation.

Well I said, if there are questions - ask. What would you like to know? I'm thoroughly enjoying myself so far after roughly 20 hours with it. The main knock seems to be the maps are empty but that is not the case in the Director's Cut, there are plenty of enemies, STALKERs roaming about, things to see and find, etc.. If you have any specific questions then just ask.
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
I'll try to mini-review it. Here goes.

So, the game succeeds in the survival department, adding Thirst, Hunger and Sleep mechanics. But do not fear, these mechanics are not annoying and do not get in the way of enjoyment, they only supplement it. The nice thing is you'll have to decide whether to carry a few extra rations or that gun you found, but there are plenty of each to find in the wasteland. Skills are enjoyable to level up, giving you a sense of progression and getting stronger. Guns can get jammed and flashlights need batteries which again are small details but add to the immersive experience. You can get upgrades to your weapons and armor that actually make a difference, and enemies and yourself go down fast with bullets. The maps are large but immersive and do not detract from the experience, but add to the tense exploration. So far as I've said I'm 20-ish hours in and really enjoying myself. I've had to find shelter for PSI Storms that come about but you get plenty of advance warning as the skies darken. Quests are there to earn you money and rewards as well as follow the main story which is one of intrigue and interest. Night vision devices vary in quality and it was very satisfying getting a better device so I can see better at night. Guns come in all varieties along with deadly mutants, many of which have been restored from the original demo. All the things I've found add to an overall deep experience that is not the same as Shadow of Chernobyl, in fact, SoC is very much "shoot a lot, ask questions last" while Lost Alpha provides an open, slower experience to savor all the elements. Not sure what else I can say but I can answer questions if you have any. I'd say give the game an honest shot for a few hours and don't quit the first time you have to run back and forth on a quest.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,424
Location
Grand Chien
But you've not really provided solid evidence that the mod succeeds at what it attempts to do. And most of us are wary of reinstalling such an old game on the dubious promise of it being transformed by a mod with an extremely bad reputation.

Well I said, if there are questions - ask. What would you like to know? I'm thoroughly enjoying myself so far after roughly 20 hours with it. The main knock seems to be the maps are empty but that is not the case in the Director's Cut, there are plenty of enemies, STALKERs roaming about, things to see and find, etc.. If you have any specific questions then just ask.
You've yet to respond directly to each of the points raised in my post
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
Alright, ti address these.

  • Lost Alpha recieved a mixed reception
  • Lost Alpha was released earlier than intended, and the finished product is incomplete and broken. Despite being highly hyped prior to its release, the release was met with a large backlash. Prior to release, the mod was very highly rated on Moddb based on teaser content, but after the actual release, the majority of reviews have been strongly negative.
  • The worst criticisms center on the broken and unfinished game design. Unlike SoC, the large levels are nearly empty and NPCs have little to no A-Life; meaning the player will spend excessive time just moving from point-to-point to finish quests with almost no action in between - resulting in an extremely boring and tedious experience (a player may have to run for 15+ real-time minutes simply to finish individual quests).
  • The initial release was also full of many game breaking bugs, though patches have been released to correct the worst bugs. Nevertheless many serious problems still exist, such as broken vehicle mechanics, and the ability for key characters to be accidentally killed (resulting in the game being uncompletable without reloading an earlier save).
  • The in-game voice acting and cinema sequences were also widely criticized as being very bad and harming the immersion; the deviation of the plot from the original SoC (ex. including Illuminati references) is also very unpopular with STALKER fans.

Doesn't seem very good

8.8 on moddb does not seem like a mixed reception, even if some recent reviews are more negative.

The game has A-Life. I encounter STALKERs and others all the time in the game.

No bugs so far, enemy AI is good, they'll hunt you down. Again, played 20+ hours so far.

The plot is intriguing so far, that's all I can say. It's very immersive and quite interesting so far.

Most importantly it feels like a proper game, not cobbled together but actually full and robust.

I'd recommend giving it a shot for several hours to see if it really grabs you. It takes a bit to really get into it, but before you know it you're hooked.
 

Baron Dupek

Arcane
Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,870,765
Lost Alpha is a mess, technically and in concept.
Early build got leaked, rushed developement and so called "Director Cut" that didn't help much, it removed some bugs but considering the fact that LA 1.0 was as buggy as Skyrim at release...
They removed some inanity like Illuminati plot and ending but then put Boris youtuber in it.
But worst sin of LA is pacing - even Call of Misery Hobo Simulators mods do better job.
 
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Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,424
Location
Grand Chien
Alright, ti address these.

  • Lost Alpha recieved a mixed reception
  • Lost Alpha was released earlier than intended, and the finished product is incomplete and broken. Despite being highly hyped prior to its release, the release was met with a large backlash. Prior to release, the mod was very highly rated on Moddb based on teaser content, but after the actual release, the majority of reviews have been strongly negative.
  • The worst criticisms center on the broken and unfinished game design. Unlike SoC, the large levels are nearly empty and NPCs have little to no A-Life; meaning the player will spend excessive time just moving from point-to-point to finish quests with almost no action in between - resulting in an extremely boring and tedious experience (a player may have to run for 15+ real-time minutes simply to finish individual quests).
  • The initial release was also full of many game breaking bugs, though patches have been released to correct the worst bugs. Nevertheless many serious problems still exist, such as broken vehicle mechanics, and the ability for key characters to be accidentally killed (resulting in the game being uncompletable without reloading an earlier save).
  • The in-game voice acting and cinema sequences were also widely criticized as being very bad and harming the immersion; the deviation of the plot from the original SoC (ex. including Illuminati references) is also very unpopular with STALKER fans.

Doesn't seem very good

8.8 on moddb does not seem like a mixed reception, even if some recent reviews are more negative.

The game has A-Life. I encounter STALKERs and others all the time in the game.

No bugs so far, enemy AI is good, they'll hunt you down. Again, played 20+ hours so far.

The plot is intriguing so far, that's all I can say. It's very immersive and quite interesting so far.

Most importantly it feels like a proper game, not cobbled together but actually full and robust.

I'd recommend giving it a shot for several hours to see if it really grabs you. It takes a bit to really get into it, but before you know it you're hooked.

You don't really make a compelling case. The game is extremely old, and I don't actually own it on Steam anyway, so I'd have to shell out 15 bucks.

I checked out YouTube and there's very little content for 1.4007 that isn't some crazy russian guy.

As recent as 1.4005 this mod was an absolute trainwreck:

 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
One video showing bugs does not a trainwreck make. I haven't seen one bug yet and the game plays well for me. You can find similar videos of Skyrim or any game out there. I played Skyrim and saw barely any bugs, too. So whoever says that is the game "in a nutshell" is doing a great disservice to the game.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,424
Location
Grand Chien
One video showing bugs does not a trainwreck make. I haven't seen one bug yet and the game plays well for me. You can find similar videos of Skyrim or any game out there. I played Skyrim and saw barely any bugs, too. So whoever says that is the game "in a nutshell" is doing a great disservice to the game.
Alright well if it goes on sale sometime in the future I may check it out
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
The feeling of progression with gear and weapons feels almost Gothic-like. There's a strong sense of it. I like that headshots are guaranteed kills. I did hit one bug, or maybe it was a feature, not sure. But when I loaded my save one of the nearby soldiers got scared when I approached him with my gun and didn't fire at me. He put his hands up like "don't kill me!" and I shot him. :) I hadn't seen that before as most enemies obviously are aggressive, so not sure if that was a bug or what.

The game is also very difficult and challenging. You will die, a lot, but when you succeed it's very rewarding.

Oh, and the game is free Yosharian , you don't need Shadow of Chernobyl to play it. Just download the files from moddb, it's a standalone game. Let me know if you get around to playing it and giving it a serious shot.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,424
Location
Grand Chien
The feeling of progression with gear and weapons feels almost Gothic-like. There's a strong sense of it. I like that headshots are guaranteed kills. I did hit one bug, or maybe it was a feature, not sure. But when I loaded my save one of the nearby soldiers got scared when I approached him with my gun and didn't fire at me. He put his hands up like "don't kill me!" and I shot him. :) I hadn't seen that before as most enemies obviously are aggressive, so not sure if that was a bug or what.

The game is also very difficult and challenging. You will die, a lot, but when you succeed it's very rewarding.

Oh, and the game is free Yosharian , you don't need Shadow of Chernobyl to play it. Just download the files from moddb, it's a standalone game. Let me know if you get around to playing it and giving it a serious shot.
It's free? Oh.
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
It's free? Oh.

Yep. It's a standalone game that doesn't need SoC to run. For a standalone mod it certainly feels like a "real" game.
 

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