Lost Alpha Clarification.
I am a lurker on other STALKER sites, reddit, discord etc. I still find confusion or misinformed posts about LA in its current state (DC and LAR). Hopefully this pinned post will help clear some points up.
One of the main points of confusion seems to be the story still. The illuminati part of the story and their cutscenes were removed in DC and LAR (Lost Alpha Revisited). Some were first removed in DC (1.4007) when it was released, in 2018. DC also removed the entire dream sequence in x16 so it plays as it did in SOC now. There was a "storyline changes" mod available in the launcher that got rid of others as well, but it is no longer there. However, it is integrated in LAR.
In LAR (Moddb.com) I removed the remaining cutscenes I felt did not belong. They still alluded to the illuminati story or did not make sense. Check the full patch notes pastebin link in LAR's description for more information.
Overall, the main story in DC and LAR is basically the same as SOC now. There are some people who enjoy earlier versions of LA though, in that case, the illuminati story is still intact.
Please read the below article for a little more info on the three versions of LA if you wish (note: I do not support DCE, nor was involved in it, the link below explains who was involved in DCE).
Thanks for the clarification
Does this mean that the new version deletes the content and branch lines of an organization? Why do people hate this? Is it because it contains too many conspiracy theories or other uncomfortable things?
Yes, The illuminati cutscenes have been removed in DC and LAR. A lot of people are purists and enjoy SOC's story as it is (or close to it), including myself. Just to make sure we are on the same page, the "illuminati" story parts have nothing to do with SIN. SIN faction is still there.
The main problem was how the cutscenes were implemented and designed. From behind the scenes, I actually understood a little better what was trying to be done (from dev notes/scripts, etc.), but it just did not work well at the end of the day.
From a gameplay perspective, having so many forced cutscenes "stops" the players natural momentum... They are an annoyance and break immersion. Things could have been implemented more gracefully by just having PDA, or computer entries etc.
Overall, the removal of those scenes makes for a better gameplay experience in my opinion. And if people happen to like the illuminati story, then as I mentioned, you can play an older version.
we need normal Directors Cut, 1.3004 patch