Countryside(Lost Alpha)

"The main trait of North Hills is a long motorway taking its start far beyond the Zone. It was built along with the NPP, however, it's never been used frequently. One of the most mysterious Zone places is also located there - a huge crater which had appeared after the second disaster at a small lake that, according to the official information, helped the radioactive water from the NPP's cooling pond circulate. Another lake located to the North was dug after the accident - and the water canal was demolished. Despite the place's abandonment, a group of field investigators can be met at North Hills once a week."

- Encyclopedia description


 *  is a major location appearing in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha standalone Mod. It was renamed North Hills in v1.4007.

Overview

 * Renamed as "North Hills" for the player in v1.4007 despite all gamecode remaining predicated to 'countryside' and screenshots remaining tagged as 'bcr_somefile_'.
 * Because this is one of the longest levels of the game, a functional Moskvich car is located near the entrance from Radar. This remains fully functional across all versions.
 * There is another vehicle (a special rusty texture of a UAZ Jeep) at the other end of the level just outside the Military Checkpoint but it is frequently in need of repair (bring a Repair kit in later versions)
 * This area has a high concentration of mutants. In the fields near the road you can find: Blind Dogs, Boars and Pseudodogs. In addition coming from Radar it is possible to find one or more of the rare Pseudogiants of the game. Some Swampbeasts near the Bandit House and two Bloodsuckers near the Bandit Hamlet.

Water Dam

 * A necessary location to visit during the Main mission. Some of the loot may remain 'undroppable' unless repeated visits are made to Deedee.
 * Follow the dam culvert all the way to the rubble at the south and a Healing Berill is hidden there (watch out for the Whirligig fields)

Abandoned Church

 * Located in the south-east part of the map.
 * It's necessary for the player to meet Hermit in this place during the Storyline after trying to find the underground tunnels at the waterdam, but also to complete certain optional side missions.

Bandit Hamlet

 * Located in the south part of the map and occupied by a small group of Bandits.

Bandit Village

 * Located in the southern part of the map, near the Abandoned Church.
 * Populated by a small group of Bandits.

Military Checkpoint

 * Located in the eastern part of the map, close to the transition point to Lost Factory.
 * Major Griboyedov is the leader of the military group and gives the side mission A petty thief.
 * Major Griboyedov will gift you with a Vepr-12 and a box of shells to assist in several mutant extermination side missions he gives as part of the Cleaning up sequence (PRM Modpack only, the vanilla v1.4007 game gains the player a standard Tunder S14 and three lots of 9x39mm PAB-9 ammo)

Notable Buildings

 * In a swampy area to the north of Bandit House there is another house that is a functional blowout shelter.

Bandit House

 * To the west of the Road Tunnel, usually occupied by Bandits after the first visit. Also a functional blowout shelter.

Road Tunnel

 * One of the other few Blowout shelters in the level. Usually has a pair of Bandits on guard.
 * Sometimes tricky to drive through.

Gameplay

 * Any version:


 * The player typically re-purposes the car near the start of the level to drive to the Lost Factory in haste.
 * The player is caught in a scripted Blowout, loses consciousness, wakes in the bunker in Lost Factory and has to return to Countryside later.

Optional Gameplay #1

 * Any version except v1.4007:


 * The player arrives from Radar as above, ignores the Moskvich for the moment and proceeds to explore the level.
 * The scripted Blowout is 'announced' in two stages:
 * 1) Initially, as soon as a Boarpack is approached after the first major road bend.
 * 2) Secondly, soon after, nearer to the Bandit House; at which point the player is forcibly relocated to Lost Factory.
 * In either of the above strategies the player may make optional lootdrops in the Moskvich, and/or use it for travel until the second scripted blowout sequence.

Optional Gameplay #2

 * Version v1.4007 only:


 * The player arrives from Lost Factory.
 * This is possible via two stratagems:
 * 1) After receiving the Not adjusted psi-helmet from Sakharov, the local Guide will take the player to the desired destination....
 * 2) Or the player may utilize the Badlands exploits to enter the NPP and then access the Lost Factory levelchanger nearby.

Trivia

 * It is possible to climb over the boulders at the southern dam, get onto the ledge beneath the outfall pipes... and fall through the map.
 * The level itself is as big as 8 SoC outdoor levels altogether. (ca. 10 km2)
 * The level itself is an improved copy of a cut SoC level refered to as K02_deadmil. Deadmil was a purely transportational level that the player travelled through to get to the Army Warehouses from Dead City.