STALKER: Lost Alpha mod video shows the promise of an expanded Chernobyl
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Phil Savage at 17:10 on 24 January 2014

People are never satisfied by what they've got. That's okay, we're an aspirational species. Although, I do question the healthiness of that impulsion when it comes to STALKER: Lost Alpha. It's being created by a group seemingly dissatisfied with GSC's final version of STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl. As such, they're trying to bring the game back to its 2002-era screenshots, when certain areas were larger, and more open. That's right: this is a group of people who want STALKER to be larger, more overwhelming and, of course, more harrowing.

They've been working on it for a long time, too. We last reported on the mod back in December 2012. Over a year later, and a new video provides a lengthy demo of their progress, and reveals why - despite its expanded bleakness - Lost Alpha is a place you may well want to visit.

"Here is a demo video from the latest build of Lost Alpha," explains the trailer's description. "It's not a trailer, it doesn't have planned and pre-rendered parts, since everything was recorded live, and next time it wouldn't have been the same." To explain, on the ModDB page for the new video, the creators explain that, because of the mod's size and randomness, "even a several hours long video couldn't represent the actual content we have in game already."

The video shows off the team's latest work, including a work-in-progress DirectX 10 render, and smarter NPC AI. "They will try to hide, use cover more times, and so on. Everything is still work-in-progress, this video does not represent the quality of the final product. One thing we can say for sure, it can be only better."

Not only are the team expanding the game through their own interpretation of the early previews, but they're also reimplementing some of GSC's cut work. For a run-down of Lost Alpha's planned features, check out the team's FAQ on ModDB. ссыль на инфу http://www.pcgamer.com/2014....ll

Tejas_StalkerTejas_Stalker 10hours 40mins ago says:
Recent comments about Game being 90% done for several years.

That's because that last 10% is the most difficult. When people ask how much is completed, it is normal to think of levels and what is there for people to walk around and explore. For the most part, this action has been completed. The aspect that is taking so long is creating a storyline within those levels. This includes NPC interaction, mutants dispersal, placing stashes & out-in-the-open objects and creating a fluid relation between all these things. If a dialogue doesn't work or an object doesn't spawn when it should, this creates a lot of work. It has to work everytime. Additionally as a Tester, my Game Play may do something or uncover something in a totally different way that the Game Creators thought of, intended, expected or anticipated the action would take place. This results in major changes, alterations, things added or removed to deal with this. GSC had the luxury of a full paid crew to fix things after the fact through patches after a release. There is no such thing for Dez0wave. You've got to get it right upon release or your creation, effort and reputation is ruined. The level of frustration of people waiting for this is far exceeded by those working on it to get things right and to deliver a superior product. This is no longer a cobbled Mod but a full Game that is being held to the highest standard by all involved.