X2(Lost Alpha)


 *  is a major location appearing in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha standalone Mod.

Overview

 * This is the grand final level of the plot of the Lost Alpha. The main task is to deactivate the generators that created the Zone.

Gameplay

 * v1.30013 - 1.4005:


 * Unmount the Elite anomaly detector from the belt. There are several anomalies that will be close by, resulting in a distracting cacophony. By now the player should be adept enough not to run into any Witches' Jelly or inadvertently fall into a lift shaft Burner (which the EAD doesn't detect anyway)
 * Proceed with Knife drawn, and stay lightly laden so that running is not a problem. Forget about stoking the bulletproof cap - no-one here fires a shot. If there was tasty loot up above such as VLA Special Assault Rifles or some PSO-1 scopes or a few intermediate artifacts that would inhibit progress, leave them in a lootpile. Sell any junk weaponry to Ghost before he pulls another vanishing act. There are opportunities to return for the loot after X2 is played out. If possible, bring a couple of grenades for later.
 * Entering X2 from Generators and stepping inside a bit, triggers the Oso Thing / Common Consciousness to appear and regale the player with a diatribe of braggadocio as he/she progresses through the level.
 * Apart from revealing the "back story" behind Lost Alpha the Oso Thing is more of a distraction, doesn't attack the player (yet), and obviously has an ego complex. There is no dialogue with this apparition - concentrate on not getting too chewed up by the other inhabitants.
 * The door down into the first subsection of X2 only becomes operable after the Thing passes through it. Follow it.
 * A few Rats may be around - just crouch and knife them.
 * At the first sublevel, proceed through the door on the right and move in the direction of the green mapspot in the minimap. This is the Main Power Switch, trying to activate it tasks the player with the Restore power subtask and provides two more green mapspots indicating the location of the Liquid Fuel and the Fuel Pump that it has to fill.
 * Turn immediately right from the MPS and proceed towards the nearest marker, opening doors, dodging Zombies and staying out of anomalies as necessary.
 * Take the Liquid Fuel to the Fuel Pump, wait for the cutscene to play out, lose the LF by accessing the pipework, and head back to the MPS at flank speed. (All of the Zombies are evadeable for the most part so vast quantities of ammo are unnecessary. Fallen zombies are easily cancelled with a few knife blows.
 * Touching the MPS concludes this phase of the X2 mission and it is now time to head further down. Players should retrace to the stairs.
 * Now take the door on the left (looking from the stairs) and head down a second flight into the bowels of X2 proper.
 * At the bottom of this second flight is the Door Scanner next to a locked door that leads to the Control Room. Take note of the location.
 * Proceed to the leftmost exit from this hub, pushing the (unbreakable) packing cases aside, and move towards the new mapspot, which is another, smaller switchbox that informs you that "Privileges" are needed to operate it in order to remove the lockdown.
 * Gaining these "Privileges" from the local computer just around the corner (with any attendant databits at the same time) allows the termination of the lockdown. Head back to the Door Scanner.
 * Activate the DS, which now enables the keypad next to it, which wants a four-digit key.
 * Proper gameplay has the player descending / ascending to gain this code from a second computer, getting bushwhacked by a pair of Burers and the odd Karlik in the process.
 * Alternatively, just enter "2345" into the keypad and advance to the main event with Common Consciousness and the Oso Thing.
 * Instead of the Q and A session with the Common Consciousness that the player experiences in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, this one is more straightforward, has the CC metamorphose into the Oso Thing - and attack the player with fire traps just like any self respecting Pyrogeist does.
 * Dodge the fire traps with nimble footwork, maybe crack off a few rounds in its general direction but refrain from going "Rambo"; wait until it 'settles' at one end or the other (and the player is at the other)
 * Now use your grenades. Obviously, make sure of a bit of cover if using F1 Grenades.
 * Cancelling the Oso Thing allows access to the Generator Switchroom after a second cutscene, which triggers a third cutscene of the Marked One entering the Generator Codes.
 * At this juncture, the player merely presses the (not obvious) switch on the control panel overlooking the now defunct Control Room.
 * This spawns a Teleport anomaly which will take the player surreptitiously to Generators 2 where all is sweetness and light.
 * Before that, the player may evade the Teleport, retrace to the outside world from the X2 level, grab any loot (noting that nothing actually got switched off) and return to the Teleport and the transition to the end of the game.
 * v1.4007:


 * The level plays in a similar manner to previous versions with the following exceptions:
 * 1) The Oso Thing is cut from the game, with the exception of a brief cameo at the end.
 * 2) The cutscene during Restore power is deleted.
 * 3) The keypad during Get access to main control room becomes trivially blocked.
 * 4) The final Deactivate generators sequence plays out differently.

Trivia

 * In the control room is an undocumented safe.
 * The code to open this safe is "1-2-3" which is the same code used on Petrenko's safe behind the Bar in Rostok (all versions to v1.4002)
 * The safe contains 3x Medkits (to v1.4002)
 * The code for the safe is altered to a five digit combination of "3-2-1-2-3" from v1.4005 (hattip to anon user)
 * The safe contains 10x Medkits (v1.4005)
 * In v1.4007 the code for the safe has been altered again to "1-1-1-1", while the contents are identical.
 * Never seen visual anomalies occur inside the lab.
 * This lab is actually an earlier version of X18 from builds of Shadow of Chernobyl.