Food and drinks in Lost Alpha (v1.4007) have five attributes of interest, like the Nutrition Facts in real life:
- Satiety
- Effect on your satiation level, as shown with the orange bar in your status.
- Thirst quenching
- Effect on your fluid level, as shown with the blue bar in your status
- Stamina restore
- Effect on your energy level, as shown with the green bar in your status
- Alcoholic intoxication
- Effect on your overall ability to act, as shown with this nasty swaying effect
- Psi-emissions
- Effect on the level of accumulated psi-emissions, as shown by the brain icon in your HUD and the also nasty cross-eyed vision.
In v1.4007 the values of these attributes are displayed in the inventory description of food and beverage items. The values are in units, meaning fraction of the maximum value for that attribute. You also have a value for time that is required to apply the attribute. So "Satiety: 0.50 unit in 5 s" means that your level of satiety (shown as the orange bar) will increase by 50 percent points within 5 seconds. Of course you cannot increase the level above 100%.
The value for Use time is the time required to consume the food or drink. In this time your weapons will be holstered.
Looking at the overview table for the attributes below you can make some interesting observations:
- Consumption of food reduces your fluid level, you will get thirsty.
- Some foods raise your energy level (Peanut Snack, Beef stew and Meat stew, though the practical relevance is as low as the increase.
- Energy drinks restore more than 100% energy. As they do it over a quite long period (30s), they help you run longer without exhausting.
- Alcohol reduces the psi-emissions in your body. So have a bottle of vodka ready when attacking a Controller, to celebrate your victory and remedy the psi effects.
- "Hard stuff" (liquors) and wine make you hungry and thirsty, while beer quenches your thirst.
- Though Rat's meat and Crow's meat are technically mutant body parts, they are "Edible but not so tasty" (thanks to chef Byte Me for bringing that on the table). But as you can see they are neither nutritious nor valuable, and they will irradiate you.
Another interesting question for every player is what food and drinks to stash for consumption and what to sell. Or, as usually weight is the limiting factor, what food and drinks to take into the zone or to the nearest trader and what to leave behind. So the two interesting numbers are the rubles (RU) per kilogram (kg) and the satiety resp. thirst quenching per kg.
Both numbers are easy to calculate. It is easy to see from the RU per kg column that Permanent Meals, Beef stew, Canned Corn and Peanut Snacks give you quite a nice profit while it is pointless to loot Bread and Diet sausages (and Rat's meat and Crow's meat). For drinks it is Cmuphob vodka resp. Mineral water.
If you plan to consume, the Thirst quenching per kg column tells you that Mineral water and the energy drinks are all a good choice. Alcohol is no option due the alcoholic intoxication.
While the RU per kg and Thirst quenching per kg give all the required information, Satiety per kg is a bit more complicated. As we saw will consumption of food make you thirsty, so you need extra liquid to compensate. As Mineral water is the drink of choice (as long as you just need a thirst quencher), you also have to take into account the additional weight for the water - see Satiety w/water.
So the real superfood in the Zone is Canned Corn, followed by Beef stew.
| Item | Weight | Base price | RU per kg | Satiety per kg | Satiety w/water | Satiety | Thirst quench. | Stamina restore | Alc. intox. | Psi-emissions | Radio-activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bread | 0,2 | 20 | 100 | 75 | 58 | 15 | -10 | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent Meal | 0,1 | 125 | 1250 | 175 | 110 | 17,5 | -10 | – | – | – | – |
| Diet sausage | 0,25 | 50 | 200 | 180 | 105 | 45 | -30 | – | – | – | – |
| Tourist's Delight | 0,3 | 100 | 333 | 167 | 129 | 50 | -15 | – | – | – | – |
| Canned Corn | 0,22 | 200 | 909 | 227 | 210 | 50 | -3 | – | – | – | – |
| Peanut Snack | 0,22 | 200 | 909 | 227 | 110 | 50 | -39 | 10 | – | – | – |
| Tinned Sardines | 0,3 | 230 | 767 | 200 | 167 | 60 | -10 | – | – | – | – |
| Beef stew | 0,25 | 280 | 1120 | 240 | 194 | 60 | -10 | 4 | – | – | – |
| Meat stew | 0,3 | 200 | 667 | 250 | 179 | 75 | -20 | 5 | – | – | – |
| Rat's meat | 0,5 | 20 | 40 | 10 | 8 | 5 | -15 | – | – | – | 15 |
| Crow's meat | 0,5 | 20 | 40 | 70 | 59 | 35 | -15 | – | – | – | 12 |
| Mineral water | 0,5 | 40 | 80 | 168 | – | 84 | – | – | – | – | |
| Energy drink | 0,3 | 75 | 250 | 147 | – | 44 | 126 | – | – | – | |
| Non Stop energy drink | 0,3 | 90 | 300 | 147 | – | 44 | 135,2 | – | – | – | |
| Chmielnitskoe beer | 0,3 | 75 | 250 | 133 | – | 40 | – | 7 | 10 | – | |
| Pripyat beer | 0,3 | 75 | 250 | 147 | – | 44 | – | 6 | 9 | – | |
| Cossacks vodka | 0,5 | 150 | 300 | -20 | -8 | -10 | – | 25 | 60 | – | |
| Cmuphob vodka | 0,5 | 400 | 800 | -20 | -8 | -10 | – | 18 | 60 | – | |
| Hemopob vodka | 0,5 | 200 | 400 | -20 | -8 | -10 | – | 25 | 70 | – | |
| Mossandra wine | 0,5 | 220 | 440 | -4 | – | – | 14 | 30 | – |