S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha

The bodies we found before didn't have those! The content of this article relates to: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha, a third party modification not endorsed by GSC Game World. The information in this article is not to be considered part of the official canon.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha
Developer(s)	Dezowave
Publisher(s)	Dezowave
Distributor(s)	[1]
Engine	X-Ray 1.3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	April 27th 2014
Base Game(s)	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Rating(s)	ESRB:
System Requirements	Static Lighting Mode: Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU around 3GHz 2GB RAM NVIDIA 9800 GT, or equivalent ATI/AMD HD3000 SERIES vGA Card 20 GB Free space on HDD Full Dynamic Lighting without Special Effects: Intel Core2Duo or equivalent AMD CPU around 3 GHZ Speed 4 GB RAM NVIDIA GT500 series, or equivalent ATI/AMD HD5000 SERIES VGA Card 20 GB Free space on HDD 64 bit OS Full Dynamic Lighting with all Special Effects: Intel MULTICORE (I3, I5) or equivalent AMD CPU around 3 GHZ Speed 4 to 6 GB RAM NVIDIA GT600 SERIES, or equivalent ATI/AMD HD6000 SERIES VGA Card 20 GB Free space on HDD 64 bit OS Full Dynamic Lighting with DX10 and all Special Effects Intel I5, I7 or equivalent AMD CPU around 3.5 GHZ Speed 8 GB RAM or more NVIDIA GT700 SERIES, or equivalent ATI/AMD HD7000 SERIES VGA Card 20 GB Free space on HDD 64 bit OS

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha is a standalone Modification based upon the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl game originally developed by GSC.

Have you ever dreamt of playing the old, forgotten S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?
― Dez0wave teaser

Overview

• As a standalone game, the most obvious difference from Shadow of Chernobyl is the sheer immensity of the Lost Alpha Zone in comparison.
• Many previously cut levels have been re-introduced such as Darkscape and Dead City where salient plot-lines are executed in a considerably more detailed, and arguably, more coherent main quest.
• While the weaponry and armour remain largely unchanged from the Base Game, upgrading has been engineered into the game and behaves similarly to these functions seen in the other games: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. Technicians are, however, in short supply.
• Since the Lost Alpha Zone is so large and diverse, vehicles are re-introduced to facilitate Zonal travel.
• Just about every mutant that previously appeared in an earlier Build has been re-introduced and possibly some that are unique in their own right.
• In addition to an enlarged Lost Alpha Zone, there are also many more underground locations. Some only become apparent as a result of side-missions or main-mission tasks but they all are expansions of the Base Game.
• Where the affiliation of the player's actor was well demarcated in Shadow of Chernobyl and became more variable in Clear Sky, players will find that in this Mod that their actor may actively use camouflage by mimicking other factions through the use of appropriate dress.

Differences from Base Game

Artifacts

• The Artifacts in Lost Alpha do not have the same properties as artifacts in the original game. Many have more in common with the rebalanced properties seen in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.
• Other, more esoteric artifacts exist due to the (re)-introduction of transmutation resulting in a more diverse set of artifacts.

Anomalies

Many cues have been taken from original STALKER alpha and beta footage and Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat. There are more and stranger anomalies then in the original Shadow of Chernobyl.

Notes

Plot and Plotlines

• Many of the original plot devices that were part of previous GSC builds have been added back to the game. Missions to various laboratories are more involved as a consequence.

Known Issues

• As of Patch 1.3002, many players were reporting crashes at the Swamps level, after cutscene with Doctor. While in earlier versions this crash was always caused by not installing XVid codecs provided with LA installator, after said patch game may crash even with those codecs installed. There is a temporary workaround for this available at GSC Forums for now, but in next patch this cutscene will be deleted from the game to avoid such problems in future.
• The tool for file unpacking may be downloaded here. Care should be taken in the choice of version used (English or Russian)
• Some vehicle attributes appear to be bugged in 1.3002 which were functional in the previous 1.30013 patch, notably an inability for the player to repair the vehicle or access the boot for the initially obtained Niva in the Dark Valley. Trying to access these functions may result in game crashes.
• The Lukash side mission is bugged with the dialog not completing properly. A workaround and patch exist that remedy this situation. Not resolving the issue would result in added "extra baggage" for the player until the end of the game.
• The codedoor in Lab X-10 is still bugged in ver 1.3002. Placing one of the barrels over the door threshold (when open) will hold the door open for the player to make a timely exit after the cutscene.
• The other codedoor, with all the loot behind it, has a seemingly undocumented code. The code is '1234'.

Trivia

• It is not needed to have a previous GSC S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game installation to install and play this game.
• Lost Alpha is currently patchable to version 1.3.002 as of 11th July 2014.
• Lost Alpha's plot is in many cases similar to that of Shadow of Chernobyl. Still there are numerous and sometimes serious differences between the two, so Lost Alpha is not a lore friendly mod.

Gallery

Cropped title image from Dez0wave