 21:14:21 1 January 2019 |
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Tejas Stalker
Official Stalker on Facebook
(Resident)
On forum: 05/12/2007
Message edited by:
Tejas Stalker
01/01/2019 21:16:17
Messages: 28281
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Lost Alpha Director's Cut 1.4007: Tejas Stalker Diary
New Update ( Part 1 )
My 4th and 5th day were very productive. I had continued to do Sidorovich jobs for money and discovered that Wolf pays the highest for used weapons. Sidorovich was best for mutant parts and the rare to find artifacts since I have a potato for a detector and have yet for it to find one other than those visible without one. I finally scrounged enough money for either the Sunrise or Merc armor but suddenly Sidorovich stopped selling them after going to Garbage. Repeated trips to Garbage did not help. Reloading a Manual Save standing right in front of him ( like all the Stalker Games and Mods I am used to ) did not help either.
I had made a couple of trips into Garbage, not going really past the train tracks yet. I just wasn't ready to go to see Seriy without getting more supplies and maybe a better armor. I had consistent ammo shortages due to the unrestricted A-Life. Mainly Boars and Dogs I had to watch out for or each time I did a Sidorovich jobs against Mutants-on-the-spot, it always ate into my meager ammo reserves. Not getting a change to Sid's inventory from trips to Garbage, I decided to do something radically different. I went south to Rostok Factory.
The only Military soldiers I had killed were those at the Cordon Bridge. I wasn't going to take on any at the level changers ( yet, that is ) so I entered RF ( Rostok Factory ) and quickly went to the center and started scavenging for supplies. Very meager amounts found. No artifacts. Met two Dutyers in the village in the north. No Leader. Met the two Scientists in the tunnel with a new ( to me ) Loner Guide who gave me a restricted menu of where he could take me. I found a single dead Bandit near the Marshes. However the best thing that happened, totally making the trip worth it, was finding the Basic Tool set. Just a lesson to search inside the most dilapidated building no matter how insignificant it seems. Back to the Cordon and Sidorovich. The two armors still did not appear, even though the Military armor, Bandit Trenchcoat and others were available.
I really, really didn't want to but I used the money to buy a Chaser shotgun instead. That was 9,000+ rubles. Almost as much as the two suits I was eyeing. It turned out that was the best decision I could have ever made. More on that in a moment. I also used some extra funds to do more upgrades on the Chaser, my AKS-74U ( short AK ) and the Bison. I did find a brand new Viper but I'm not coming across enough ammo for it to make using it or upgrading it worth my time. I'm not going to use a weapon I have to exclusively buy ammo for. Hence why I don't carry around the SKS I got earlier despite repairing it and upgrading it's magazine. The Bison I got off a dead Military soldier who fell over dead when the Blowout hit at the Cordon Checkpoint, was a perfect weapon. Plenty of cheap ammo. Large 64 round magazine.
One of the new changes ( to me ) about Lost Alpha that I wasn't happy about was losing the ability to run and change ammo at the same time. Really? Like I can't slap a magazine in an AK or pistol as I'm running? That's like saying you can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I understand the reason...to make the Game harder. Likewise you can't really outrun all the Mutants. However using the small magazine on the sawn-off shotgun means you're gonna die if you can't reload it on the run and a pack of Boars or Dogs are on your tail.
To be continued...
TS 
https://www.facebook.com/officialstalker/ ❖ https://www.facebook.com/tejas.stalker
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| 03:36:50 2 January 2019 |
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Tejas Stalker
Official Stalker on Facebook
(Resident)
On forum: 05/12/2007
Messages: 28281
|
Lost Alpha Director's Cut 1.4007: Tejas Stalker Diary
New Update ( Part 2 )
I spent way too much money on weapon upgrades and basically went back to Garbage broke. I decided it was time to head up to the Garbage Hangar and visit Seriy. I stayed on the road and chose not to waste time or ammo on nearby Mutants. I met Yurik and we raced down parallel tunnels to come out for the Bandit ambush. I made sure to get far ahead of him to prevent his death if you let him go first or arrive at the same time. The first run of this was a success.
Lots of loot, sold what I could locally. Stashed the more damaged weapons to sell to Sidorovich later. Met with Seriy who gave me the Zombie job across the street. Did that and was back for reward but still not ready to push on to the Agroprom. Yes, I knew there was a Sunrise suit there in the Underground but I wanted to get one now and upgrade it as much as possible, not pick up one without the upgrades and have to carry it back. Having Wolf's key, I decided to move on to the Duty Checkpoint.
I was not prepared for what was to happen next. I knew there was a Boar charge coming with the Dutyers, but I got way more than I bargained for. I decided to travel maybe about a 100 feet or so to the west of the road. I thought I was staying clear of the wildlife on the other side of the road and that far to the west near the level wall. As I approached a fallen tree, I heard the grunt of some Boars and before I knew it a herd of them charged me. I climbed as high as I could on the branches but they came straight up them and knocked me off.
I had seen a popular video on Facebook of an LADC Boar charge where the Player was overwhelmed and killed. I expected the same. The Boars were bashing into me and I was blasting away with my newly purchased and upgraded Chaser. Point blank to the head was killing them in a shot or two. Getting knocked down around the base actually momentarily shielded me as I worked my way around again. I switched to the Bison with it's 64 round magazine on single shot to save ammo. After this savage attack, I could not believe I survived as I counted at least 8 Boar dead around the tree trunk. The elevated height had not been enough to keep me from harm as I spammed a couple of Medkits while under attack. I had learned the hard way that Medkits are slow to apply. If you wait until you are very, very low on health, you will die despite applying one.
From there I continued up to the Dutyers where I got the scripted Boar attack. I was hoping I had killed off some of them in my previous action but did not. Again the use of the Chaser, Bison and my AKS-74U ( also on single shot to not waste ammo ) I fought hard again and survived. To my surprise, in the woods where they came from, I found 3 dead Dutyers and 3 dead Bandits who the herd of Boars decimated right before their attack on me.
The Duty Commander rewarded me but said I could not pass. I knew I had to go to the Agroprom like in SoC to get the documents to pass. I talked to him again and he gave another option to take on more Mutants. It was the Flesh and Boars I knew were there far to the west. Again I found a dead Dutyer by the stream. I killed more Mutants and finally made it back. The Dutyer said I could pass through the gate and on to Rostok.
I was so happy and decided to take the huge amount of Boar, Flesh and other Mutant parts I had to make money from Barkeep. Little did I know that was a huge mistake.
To be continued...
TS
https://www.facebook.com/officialstalker/ ❖ https://www.facebook.com/tejas.stalker
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| 21:57:03 2 January 2019 |
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Tejas Stalker
Official Stalker on Facebook
(Resident)
On forum: 05/12/2007
Message edited by:
Tejas Stalker
01/03/2019 0:42:40
Messages: 28281
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Lost Alpha Director's Cut 1.4007: Tejas Stalker Diary
New Update ( Part 3 )
I was now happily on my way to Rostok without having to go to the Agroprom first. I thought staying off the road and traveling hidden in the bushes on the west side would be stealthy. Unfortunately I ran right into the face of a running dog fleeing from boars. More boar fighting Yay! By the time I rounded the road and saw Rostok, I was seriously low on all ammo. I ran into some Loners including my first Exoskeleton. After a brief skirmish with some pseudodogs, I was safely at the edge of the mass of buildings.
However all the way down the crazy road forcing me to go all the way around to the northern gate, there were more dead mutants & men. Various Loners & Dutyers were fighting stray dogs, boars and flesh. I picked up some extra mutant parts, supplies and weapons, so much in fact I would have to come back for some of it due to exceeding my weight limit. After the tedious detour, I was finally inside the walls of the safest, most secure compound in the entire Zone. I headed straight to the 100 Rads Bar to unload my surplus mutant parts.
Barkeep wouldn't buy any. They were shaded red which meant no trading. Well that sucked. if I had any idea that I wouldn't be able to trade with the most important Trader in the Zone, I would have never made the trip like this. To my additional horror I discovered that the very same Sunrise 5 and Mercenary armor that Sidorovich sold ( when available ) were 4,000 to 5,000 more rubles than Sidorovich. I'm always used to Sidorovich's prices being higher since he's at the Zone's entrance. So I couldn't sell what I had to Barkeep ( I could sell to Loners at a huge loss ) and even if I could, the prices were atrocious for the armors I sought from him. I wasn't sure if the prices were crappy because I haven't done the Agroprom yet but I seriously doubted they would decrease by the inflated amounts compared to Sid.
I temporarily placed the mutant parts in the bar chest stash ( reminding myself to never keep anything in here for long due to the scripted lock-out to come later in the game ) and went back out to loot the used weapons I had to leave behind. This gave me just enough money to buy the bare minimum ammo to get me back to Garbage and maybe the Cordon. I couldn't get access to General Voronin, the other Trader yet. There was literally nothing else to do in Rostok with no money. My early access trip was a bust other than learning if I wanted a Sunrise or Mercenary armor, Sid was my man.
I departed Rostok when there was still a few more hours of sun left. The trip back was relatively free from incidence and I made it back to the Duty Checkpoint in Garbage. I think I spent the night on the roof of their building. I was still grossly overburdened with all the mutant parts I had hauled to Rostok. I needed the money now so it looked like I was headed back to the Cordon and Sidorovich. I stopped by the Garbage Hangar briefly and was soon on my way again. Right outside the Vehicle Junkyard, where I saw 3 Loners sitting around the campfire, I saw something moving through the bushes. It moved slowly like a Zombie.
Weapon raised, I was ready to kill the Zombie. To my surprise it was a wounded Dutyer, farther south than I had ever seen one. I gave him a medkit. I started to leave but went right back and decided to check how much money he had and what kind of prices he would buy things at now that he went from neutral "yellow" to friendly "green". To my delight, he was willing to buy all the mutant parts at prices closer to Sidorovich than any Loner I had seen. I immediately sold him so many I took 4,997 of his 5,000 rubles. I was now very happy at my fortunate timing meeting him randomly on my way back. If he had not been near the road I would have never found him otherwise, due to the high probability of instant death meeting mutants in the dense woods. I was now headed back to Sidorovich hoping the armors I sought would finally appear back in his inventory.
To be continued...
TS
https://www.facebook.com/officialstalker/ ❖ https://www.facebook.com/tejas.stalker
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| 22:36:31 3 January 2019 |
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Tejas Stalker
Official Stalker on Facebook
(Resident)
On forum: 05/12/2007
Message edited by:
Tejas Stalker
01/03/2019 22:45:17
Messages: 28281
|
Lost Alpha Director's Cut 1.4007: Tejas Stalker Diary
New Update ( Part 4 )
When I arrived back in the Cordon ( killing the solitary Military soldier at the train bridge every time ) my first stop was to go to the Factory and visit Wolf to get the best prices on any used weapons not too damaged. One minor complaint about the Factory, is that while it does spawn new Bandits to attack Wolf, Petruha and his men, the action is already over with by the time I arrive on the scene. It would be nice if I could arrive there and then be available for an impending attack. I just don't understand the intended scripting for the Player to be there when something is almost always too late. Most of the times it has been a solitary Bandit. Later I started seeing a group of three.
Arriving back in the Rookie Village, Sidorovich had both the Sunrise 5 and Mercenary armors back in stock. I was still short of the funds I needed so I decided to sell the artifact I had been given by the Loner I rescued from being held up by the 3 Bandits in Garbage. It was some artifact for electrical anomaly protection. Due to the limited number of slots and ammo fighting for the same space on my belt as the artifacts, there just wasn't room to stack a lot of artifacts there. In fact I doubted I could even stack 5 like in the SoC retail game, since I needed the space for shotgun, my SMG ( or rifle later ) and pistol ammunition. It does me no good to pile on the artifacts on my belt and then run out of ammo in the middle of a gunfight or mutant swarm.
Now with the funds I needed, I had to decide on the Sunrise 5 or Mercenary armor. The former was about 10,000 rubles and the latter about 13,000 rubles. I compared their stats but knew the real test was the upgrade paths. I made a Manual Save. I bought each at a time and took them to Fox. All I had given him so far are the Basic Tools, called Rough in this Mod. While I did favor the Mercenary armor for having better numbers in Explosion, Impact and Combat ( Bulletproof protection ) it did not allow the upgrade to carry more weight until the third tier which was still locked. Being able to carry more weight was the most important feature I was looking for. This was a major frustration I had with the design of armor upgrades. When you choose to make the most needed quality at the most difficult level of tools needed on the most basic of armors, you are defeating the entire hierarchy of game progression to economy and Player achievement. What do I mean? In my mind, by the time I find the highest level of tools needed and the money for the upgrades to get the very much needed ability to carry more weight...I will have simply moved on to a better armor. Most likely finding one or getting one as a reward. Or simply put...too little too late.
For this reason I chose the Sunrise 5. Not only was it slightly cheaper but the ability to carry more weight was in the second tier and already unlocked. It's not what I really wanted but it had the most features I could use now. So I got my new armor, had my two favorite weapons: the Chaser & Bison. My AKS-74U when things got tough. A still needed pistol for shooting mutants. The next big thing I wanted was a regular 5.45 AK and a scope to mount on it. I felt I was finally ready to go to the Agroprom after upgrading all my weapons and armors as much as I could.
So that's my 4 part story about finally getting better armor. Even though I knew there was some free armor in the Agroprom Underground, once I saw what it actually was, I immediately knew I had made the right decision. However that's another story.
TS
https://www.facebook.com/officialstalker/ ❖ https://www.facebook.com/tejas.stalker
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