User blog:Byte Me/LADC v1.4006/7 - Chimera or kolbasa?


 * The final version of Lost Alpha Developer's Cut (LADC) was released around four hours ago on ModDB. Since you are probably reading this on another day, let's nail that time down as 20122018 @ 08:00 GMT.

Installation

 * ..Is a bit different when compared to the previous release and players should consult the first gallery pics to see why I have selected an 'easy' retro look. I'm on record a having serious issues with this game's predecessor (v1.4005); so just to appearances up I'm NOT playing "Autumn colours", nor the PRM pack, or some of the impossible stuff that pissed me and many others off.
 * You should take the time to critically select amongst these options.
 * It only takes five minutes and could make or break your game...


 * More later...

During Install..

 * The publishers provided a link to the changelog - also worth a gander before play as the mythical v1.4006 log appears, so..

Changelog
'''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha official Developers Cut --

Engine updated: December 8 2018 Engine version: 1.4007 Build number: 7246 Log updated: December 17 2018 ETA: n/a

---                    Changelog for patch 1.4007 ---

Fixes:
 * Fixed around 50 dialogs and tasks: rewards, targets, descriptions, lines
 * Reworked the most part of the Russian text: fixed grammatic, orthographic, factual, and stylistic errors
 * Fixed and minorly reworked PDA interface
 * Fixed some UI elements
 * Fixed and reworked all the messages received via the PDA
 * Fixed all known errors with doors located on the game levels
 * Moved all the passwords, safe combinations, and access codes to a separate PDA Diary section
 * Fixed all the existing Diary entries of Marked One; added some new ones
 * Redrawn the military outpost map given by Sidorovich
 * Recaptured the most part of illustrations for Encyclopedia entries
 * Global texture overhaul: around 250 textures of low quality were deleted, and 400 were replaced with more qualitative ones
 * Removed the lab ghosts from PDA Contacts section and the map
 * Fixed the severity of bleeding caused by the anomaly "Witches' Jelly"
 * Fixed errors with the lack of use sounds after using certain meds and eating some food
 * Fixed issue that wouldn't allow to ask for a task from Petrenko after the Bar events
 * Fixed volume of the levels' background music tracks
 * Fixed error that caused the Forest Mercs to visually disappear
 * Replaced/added some levels' background music tracks

Additions:
 * Added icons for all the tasks
 * Added a lot of Encyclopedia articles
 * Added new NPC models based on the ones from CoP
 * Added new graphics options; reworked some of the existing ones
 * Added new shaders: raindrops on helmet, visor effect, and water reflections
 * Added a new kind of ammo for shotguns
 * The "Compass" is now derivable from transmutation
 * Added some super economy class items to be used early in the game
 * Added new sounds for some mutants
 * Added a lot of sound zones to the game levels, where the reverberation effect takes effect if the EAX option is enabled

Gameplay:
 * The Gameplay DLC, previously being an addon, was included in the base game
 * Added many mutant respawn zones
 * Reworked all the endings of the game
 * Added a new level based on the Level 12 (from 2001-2002 builds)
 * Once ranked up, Marked One will get an additional Skill Point
 * Added detailed information about an item's purpose to its description
 * Lowered the batteries capacity
 * Deleted the Illuminati storyline along with all the related cutscenes
 * Changed properties of many weapons, meds, food items, outfits, and detectors
 * The Rostok Factory technician is now able to fix items with a condition of 10 % or more
 * The secret ending is now unlocked upon completion of 15 conditions
 * Removed the ability to repossess the items that the Sin "withdraws" from Marked One, prior to walking through Lab X-18
 * Prevented the anomaly detector and the knife from being given to Marked One at the start of the game

Other:
 * The new Launcher is being distributed with the game: you can launch the game, have control over installed modifications, and change graphics options; there's also Discord integration
 * Reworked the Game Manual so that it could display the features of the current game's version; deleted the Artifacts section
 * Added full tessellation support

---                    Changelog for patch 1.4006 ---


 * The Lada Niva and Zaporozhets remain as a body and blown-off parts after the car explodes
 * Fixed a graphic bug under the UAZ
 * Added another working lamp to the Moskvich, and both shine better now
 * Fixed the bulletproofing of the glass
 * Driving into an Electro and some other anomalies will cut off engine power
 * Karliks run faster
 * Camera wobbling is reduced if weak mutants attack the player
 * Fixed no damage when colliding in a car, rebalanced anomaly and collision damage
 * The garbage collector algorithm now doesn't work in a certain distance from the player
 * Adjusted flashlight lights
 * Increased PKM deterioration by 18% and made the fire rate more realistic
 * Reduced the survivability of wild boars by ~20%
 * The survivability of weak and strong Burer species is reduced by 25% (except for medium)
 * Big buff to the USP
 * A rebalance of the parameters of pistol, rifle cartridges and some weapons in order to strengthen competition between some barrels and calibers
 * Added information about armor-piercing cartridges
 * Fixed illogical protection parameters for zombified stalkers
 * Reduced the price of AP cartridges of some calibers and all types of 9x39 cartridges
 * Reduced price of repair kits
 * Fixed the condition for updating the wares of merchants after X-18

Fixes:
 * Fixed crashes
 * Fixed bug with soldiers in x16 cutscene
 * Added dialog for searching instruments for Duty's mechanic

Gameplay:


 * Niva is now tougher to survive certain story moment
 * One usage of Repair Kit now only repairs no more than 1 weapon
 * All treasures on Forest location are fixed
 * Sniper AKM nerfed and cannot replace VSS
 * 9x39 ammo buffed
 * Booster prices lowered
 * Blowouts now happen less often on average and with more random delay
 * Major in Country now fixes stuff
 * Reduced weight of food to more realistic values
 * Rats and Tushkanos die easier
 * Dead bodies now stay a while longer for better immersion
 * Replaced Tractor and Raf with Moskvich and Zaz cars
 * Greatly reduced prices for cars
 * Petrol Can now only refuels 20 liters (2-3 canisters for full refuel)
 * Greatly reduced fuel consumption of cars
 * Car trunk capacity is limited (around 120-200kg)
 * Repair kits now required for car repair (1/3 of a kit for a full repair)
 * Increased chance for spawning artifacts in anomalies when starting new game by 30%
 * Early artifact detectors and their upgrades are now cheaper and slightly better
 * Artifact detector description now shows list of artifacts in it's database and detection radius
 * Skills PDA Module now always available for everybody (NG not required)
 * Added ~15 new Skill Points for completing certain quests throughout the game (total Skill Point amount is about 25 now)
 * Player endurance parameters rebalanced due to related engine fix
 * Increased damage to certain classes of NPC bullet don't pierce their armor, also tweaked some weapons damage
 * Guiders are 50% cheaper
 * Proverb now give you appropriate weapon for mutant hunt quest
 * No anomaly detector from game start (is given later or you can buy one)
 * You can now drag various items like empty barrels, wooden boxes, chairs, skulls, etc.
 * Another vehicle speed/power/armor rebalance so they climb hills better and survive certain chase scene
 * Ground during nights is just a little bit less dark, so you can barely see where you go without NVG
 * Returned 3rd-person view to gameplay options menu (off by default, still buggy)
 * Brand new first-person legs models for all outfits
 * In gameplay options you can now choose between shadows and legs in the first person view (only one, not both)
 * Updated advanced graphics menu, added checkboxes for enabling build-style bloom/gloss
 * New inventory screen
 * 3 slots for firearms: one separate slot for pistol AND two slots for "big" weapons (interchangeable, CoP-style)
 * Helmets from CoP
 * New outfits
 * Complete re-balance of outfits and their upgrades
 * Repair Kit rebalanced and allows to repair weapons using parts from compatible weapons (like AKM, AK-74, AKS-74u, etc)
 * Many smaller tweaks and improvements to original game balance and gameplay
 * Configs and item icons refactoring (for easier modding, not interesting for players)
 * Other tweaks and fixes

Engine:

'''
 * Fixed the loss of a grenade when removing the grenade launcher
 * Corrected crash when a skeleton is spawned in the Whirligig anomaly
 * Added console commands to turn off multithreaded texture loading
 * Fixed the flight of cars in gravity anomalies, due to the non-inclusion of telekinesis when leaving the restrictor
 * Gravity anomalies, as well as Electra and Vortex now damage cars
 * New parameters for gravity anomalies to adjust the damage and pull force for cars and mutants
 * New parameters for ZS_MBOLD anomalies for adjusting damage to cars and turning off the engine on impact
 * After the explosion of the car, the damage parts fly away
 * Fixed the possible cause of the bug with the inability to enter the car after save / load
 * Fixed bug of the original engine - "twitching" of ph. objects on the proximity at the time of moving of the object (example - car trunk)
 * Added parameter collision_hit_threshold for cars
 * Fixed the parameters not resetting after the removal from of a special sight from a weapon
 * Added a command to disable camera jiggling during movement
 * "Fixed" zero damage from mutant bites, now uses hit_fraction_actor as a min. hit power
 * Added display of missing suit parameters in inventory (* _restore_speed)
 * Changed multipliers in the derivation of the properties of artifacts and suits (not counting immunities) to a new balance of artifacts
 * Fixed crash when putting artifact on belt in some case
 * Fixed crash when dying from a Phantom's psy hit
 * Added "AddFuel" script function
 * Implemented weight limit for car trunk and displaying of this weight
 * Eatables with different amount of portions don't stack now
 * Improved ammo belt behavior to be less awkward
 * Step sounds work when using "g_actor_body on"
 * Weapons with different ammo type or amount loaded in the mag now won't stack together
 * Fixed serious bug with carry weight bonuses not actually affecting the MaxCarryWeight (only MaxWalkWeight, number in inventory was lying)
 * Fixed armor bullet protection being reset when putting it into slot, which made all armor upgrades useless
 * Fixed exploit that allowed to repair items in 0% condition
 * MaxWalkWeight is now displayed in inventory screen as well for convenience
 * Weapons with different ammo type or amount loaded in the mag now won't stack together
 * Other fixes


 * More later...

..Aaaand

 * It doesnt install smoothly.
 * The installer puts the configurator on your desktop..
 * If you locate the XR engine in the bins and shortcut that, then the game tries to start, ..but can't find "system.ltx" - so it's a wash.


 * Need some kind of workaround here...

The (partial) Workaround

 * Another day, another download... sort of..


 * While everyone is having orgasms with the 'new' superwonderful v1.4007 FINAL incarnation of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha (which I GENUINELY hope is totally on the money) - I did a bit of preliminary snooping that anyone can also do:
 * It's a bit unfair three days before Christmas to suggest that interest in DC is on the wane, but even on the third release day (today - 22122018) these download stats and commenting activities are not indicative of a vibrant fane


 * How far should I play this ?
 * That was rhetorical. LOOK - I actually LIKE the 'nanny state autonaming' feature - it's a positive step, seriously - I mean that, but LOOK - here's where it goes wrong:
 * 1) It doesn't leave the player much room to append identifiers for sub-saves.
 * 2) (Why actually, do I need storyline segment based saves in the first place?)
 * 3) "How do I turn this OFF?" (to misquote and plagiarize an old Age of Empires II easter egg...) (Quick answer - I can't, it's hardcoded)
 * 4) So what's my "problem" I hear you all say?
 * 5) Well - if the devs had extracted their wanderlust into gaming irrelevance - even briefly - on the road to turning S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha into Shadow of Clearly Lost Pripyat - from their collective cloacas - they might have created a game that engages me instead of pissing me off.

Day TWO

 * This is all on 'Stalker difficulty' btw.


 * So I played it a bit and went for my usual offbeat strategy of milking the zombies in the Trade Route Tunnel to see what spawned..
 * After a ho-hum hour and a half I had amassed three Springs, a Cake, a Night Star and a Bouquet as well as a Stone Flower. Properties looked to be consistent with v1.4005 vanilla.
 * Earlier, the cutscene scripted Flesh death netted me a Stone Blood and a Meat Chunk.
 * It could be subjective, but the Cake seems to be slightly slower at killing you of hunger... Now that I look again, there's no bulletproof factor and +20 each for impact and rupture.
 * It might help in a knife fight I suppose...
 * I eventually paid the Bridge Checkpoint sniper a visit to liberate his gun.
 * Turns out to be some archaic museum piece developed in 1949. No scope of course. Severely knackered like most 1.4005 weaponry ...
 * Even so, I took this junk to Garbage (sic) to have it out with the Bandit sniper.....
 * Turned out that he had a very serviceable version of the same relic. After a couple of reloads I found it best to duck and weave around the bridge and drill the bugger with the AK of the doomed one, instead of the tried and tested method of putting a bead on the mark with the Sniper rifle SVDm-2 that was everyone's favourite one-shot...
 * The Hangar was a bit less hairy (I'm wearing the Mail jacket btw) because of the easy difficulty, and rather than hit the high notes in Agroprom - I thought a trip to Yantar was worth a go...
 * Working for the Warrant Officer was pretty routine, lure the Flesh into a Whirligig (gaining a blood and a meat) - and use the cover of the ruin around a manhole trapdoor while the knife slots six Boar.
 * Wolf's Stash Wagon is filling up with Boar's hoof...
 * Task complete, and the WO lets me into Bar level.
 * Naturally, there isn't much happening here as I'm out of step with the normal game - I'm in transit anyway..
 * Loot drop at the Bus Stop(Great Metal Factory) stashbag. Pointedly ignore the Loners, and sprint past the dogpack..
 * Grab the Urchin. See if the dead dutyer's rifle is any good (nope) but take the ammo.
 * Make another lootdrop in the blue box in the shed...
 * Save, and sprint into Wild Territory ignoring the dogs and looking for the fat controller....
 * Had time to grab the 2 packs of 5.45x39 mm rounds and the Slug because I'll need that to slow bleeding as I use the Urchin for the telepathy 'help'..
 * Taking out a snork and half a dozen Rodents (you only need to scratch them with the knife), I have to get up and personal with brainiac as there's too much visual aggro trying to drill him from the works carriage.
 * With him down, I retreat for repairs.
 * Avoiding the nearest snorks (ffs, I'm in a mail jacket that's 60% shagged with an Akm 74/2U from Sid) I inch towards the other snorks and the Pseudodog pair 'guarding' the Hunter PS5 BTR...
 * Had to shoot one snork, the other ran off to bother someone else (a bandit??)
 * Pdoggie 1 is stationary by the sidestreet. 5 bullets and he's a Hush Puppy.
 * His buddy charges me near the BTR - same story.
 * So I grab the loot and the HS bulletproof is down to 25% (was 40% in LA, 33% in v1.4002/5)
 * See, this^^ is what tees a lot of players off, the "dash to 'balance' the game into CoP". It's disingenuous. How is it credible to have a MJ BP of 20% - and the HPS5 BP at 25%? But it gets muuch less credible than this in Yantar...


 * Now being a tad overweight, I run back to lootdrop in the shed again. I'll ferry the MJ down the levels if I ever work for Numbnutz.
 * Back into WT, and up to the building site.
 * Save, and contemplate the options... My goal is the level changer to Forgotten.
 * 1) From upstairs I decide to "try a runner" and leap onto a roof away from the Bandit Camp.
 * 2) One good sport notices me, misses with both barrels (fortunately) and takes a knife to the face while reloading... and I'm round the corner looking at the "tunnel of death".
 * 3) Not believing my luck - I make a save - because if the Bandits don't suddenly appear behind me, something 'hot' will appear right soon - with highly accurate gunfire for dessert.
 * 4) ..And run again, past the Poltergeist and pair of Pyrogeists, keeping the concrete pillars as 'shielding' as far as possible.. and bearing right with the objective of getting up the embankment and weaving up and down it...
 * 5) Armed with the Knife... (because if you shoot anything while running - you stop running)
 * 6) Zombified Stalkers are slow to activate, suckers for a "face-knife" but lethal if given a chance.
 * 7) I was that dot vanishing around the bend. Three headscratches left three dead in my wake.
 * 8) I took some hits, but nothing that an emergency Bandage and a tier 1 Medkit couldn't slow down. Walk the rest off - make a save. I couldn't repeat that.
 * 9) Ran past the Psy dog into the level changer...


 * I don't have much business in Forgotten, I suppose that I could run down and see Alex for repairs, but I'm in a nearly new Hunter PS5 (which I fully intend to shag up like the MJ stashed at the Bar. I'm not very inclined to even hunt down the Transistors junk let alone take on a longwinded travelogue across the levels to Help destroy the fuel cache involving major action with a dozen Mercenaries with me wearing gear with crappy bulletproofing....
 * See, this^^ is another turnoff for players. By making the game coplike the incentive to take on dangerous stuff is negated. In earlier versions (up to and including 1.4002) there were exploits that added a whole new dimension - make yourself some bulletproofing. Flame and Cake artys were worth the effort or the shoeleather for the prerequisites.


 * Strategizing how you did this was an artform of a different exploit variety.


 * The upshot being that instead of having a gameboard where players might think "Hey! maybe I should visit that Anomaly Field and see if a Fireball showed up, or the other one for a Night Star" - they're more likely to think "Meh.. why bother".

With the result that the game becomes more linear - less engaging - and less played - and memory holed faster than it really deserves.
 * Enough blather and venting, I'm here to get to Yantar before the pigs get me..

Yantar

 * OK, it was a quick curve run for about 300 meters to the Yantar gate which is closed "due to contamination" or some other BS.
 * It's explained in Main Mission Strategy and in another blog post, but here is what I did. It's an exploit. Not a cheat, that would involve the Tools Kit and some form of 'jump to' nonsense.
 * I literally ran at the gate and made my actor JUMP into it. Took a couple of goes, I'm old and rusty, and in Yantar without cheating, when I should probably be rescueing Mole.
 * He ain't going anywhere. He can wait, just like the Loners at the Bus Stop(Great Metal Factory).


 * Well I'm here to see what delights v1.4006 adds / subtracts from the excellent v1.3003 and 1.4002 releases. I hope for the best - plan for the worst...


 * Since I'm in no rush after the "tunnel of death" I just sauntered in.
 * The Electro under the wagon is less conspicuous. Bolt test implies that it's still totall lethal...
 * Move across to the Duty Boathouse keeping east of it with an eye to liberating the Snowflake, but I'm not desperate for it, the three Springs have been invaluable so far.. Hey that's odd...
 * The Boar / Blind Dog permafight near the Bar changer is -- different.. they're ALL moving towards the Motor Pool.
 * OK then, (runs and grabs Snowflake)
 * Now I want the much treasured SSP-99M suit out of that bunker.
 * I run up outside the Yantar Military Stores and knife a pair of Boar who want to mix it, and run over the pipeline east of the bunker to attract the Fleshpack.
 * Run round the corner ad let them wander into the bunker (I'm not geared up to bother collecting any crap that they spawn - later perhaps)
 * I carry on to the west face of the bunker and through the 'window' - push a crate under it NOW to escape by, and run round for the loot. GTFO.
 * As my head clears outside, I test my new toy:
 * 1) Second gen Night vision - check..
 * 2) Walks like a green duck - check..
 * 3) Bulletproof -- 16% - WTF?
 * 4) A whoopee 15% head protection
 * 5) A massive forgettable telepathy value...
 * So basically, it's been shafted, because because because...
 * I was looking for a dropbox somewhere and settled on the fuel tank at the Yantar Military Stores.
 * While I'm doing this Ball of Twines and Goldfishes are spawning at a gravi anomaly somewhere on the level, I'll check it out later. Maybe.

Later

 * So I ran here and everywhere again..
 * Shortcircuited the Swamp helis by the usual exploit..
 * Wasn't a huge fan of the nerfed armour... reacted accordingly...
 * Eventually acquired BOTH SSP-100M units using the "jump off the ironwork onto the locked cabin" exploit.
 * Made sure that the one that Bumble got was REALLY shagged out...
 * Used mine to get to the end of the game by mostly avoiding firefights.
 * "Found" all of the Enlightered documents and manipulated the X7 guards for Mono stash which had a 'strange junk' piece required for the "Victory Ending" that hasn't worked since v1.4002... (and didn't this time in 1.4006)
 * Kneecapped Matrix... DIDN'T 'turn the radio off' for giggles - because the game is worse than 1.4005.

Even Later

 * Pripyat is 'rebalanced' so that missions do not complete (but you still can visit the local OOD and continue)
 * Eventually got the Kruglov clone to "take measurements" but it's FUBARED beyond 1.4005...
 * Met Ghost. Killed a Mononut that 'just sprang up' for no discernible reason (me and the mils had already been all over the local HQ drilling nutjobs)
 * Ran past bloodsuckers..
 * Told Lt Vasilev to shove it where the Military fork don't shine and picked a Loner routes variant that got me scenically to the recon unit by the bloodsucker.
 * Unfortunately, the Sarcophagus door guards were present, so a wide berth and a swift run in to the door was needed.
 * As was a VERY swift run out after to the Generators(Lost Alpha)...

Much Later

 * Generators is about the same.
 * Except I might as well be wearing the Mail jacket...
 * Anyhow, into and through X2 much like all previous visits and onto Generators 2(Lost Alpha) (having made a save by the 'portal' just in case)
 * The vestigial "meet with US" plays but of course the Follow the signal is not given.
 * Heading into the 'basement' CTDs the game (big surprise) whatever render or resolution. Basically gamedata is intentionally missing.
 * I mean, throw me a fucking bone man, if I HAD NOT collected ALL of the Enlightered documents I might find a Calibration toolkit instead of a CTD.
 * On reload, I Talk to ghost at the cemetery - and promptly peg out in transition...
 * AGAIN, I mean, throw me a fucking bone man, how totally arseholed is this?
 * (Workaround - sleep 8 hours then eat and drink before talking to Ghost)
 * Actually got me to the v1.3003 freeplay. Which was dull.

Conclusions

 * V1.4007 is unlikely to be much different from my 1.4006 experience EXCEPT in ONE surreptitious fudge...


 * The options select for 1.4007 lets you DESELECT the 'unrealistic economy'.
 * Being hardwired into 1.4005 and 1.4006, THIS^^ fucked the game up.


 * NOW, a year later, it's quietly referred to as an optional choice.
 * No interim minipatch to do same..
 * Just more suits and gunz and junk hardware, software and crudware that the player never needs.
 * Half as many Vehicles...
 * I'm off to dearchive my v1.4002 games, at least that had PROMISE.