Comments - Kaidonni

Oh, it's the Arena fix that interests me the most. I enjoyed the Arena in SoC, and didn't expect it in LA (I recall it being mentioned that it was not going to be in).

Maybe I'm just being far too particular, and should do a playthrough now without the Arena, and then another playthrough later on.

I don't think it has much to do with impatience, it's the prospect of starting a new game and then finding that you only needed to wait a few more days...and then you have to restart all over.

Try as I might, I just can't do a quick run through of the game, it irks me not knowing when the patch might be rolling around. It doesn't have to be an exact date, but I really like getting into games and taking my time, and if it's one thing that really gets me wound up, it's restarting and restarting and restarting. I like to play a certain way, so everything I do becomes part of the experience, even just looking at the PDA map and reading my objectives - I don't like losing any manner of progress or experiences that add time in the game, and I don't like redoing things I could have avoided redoing.

Exactly why I'm asking about when the next patch will be out, because it will be in that patch.

So, anyone able to give a rough estimate of when the next patch will be out? A few days, a few weeks, something in between? It doesn't have to be exact, I ask mainly due to the non-compatibility with save games of at least one of the fixes (the arena), thereby requiring a new game to be able to play that part. I don't want to start now only to find I have to restart in a day or two; I enjoy the arena, and would be kicking myself for not waiting a matter of days for the fix. I'm a patient man and can wait for patches before I start playing, but if it's a few weeks then I can just jump right in and wait until my next playthrough to be able to use the arena, etc.

If it's from one of my posts, it isn't that it will require a new game, it's that I noted in one of Dezodor's comments that the arena portion of the fix requires a new game to work. The patch is likely very much save-game compatible, just the arena won't work unless you start a new game.

Since I noticed that there is an arena in Lost Alpha (too much reading of the comments and not enough Stalker-ing methinks!), and it will be working as of the next patch...when might that patch be coming out? I noted that the arena part will require a new start, so I don't really want to play for a few hours tonight and tomorrow only to find I need to restart. If it won't be for a few weeks, then I may as well jump in - but if it's for a few days, I might just wait. Thanks.

Heh, I edited my post, sorry. I have a tendency to do that... XD

I will ditto this, and also raise you the fact that retail games get released with all manner of bugs also. Some are unavoidable and are only realised once a game is released; they lurk in the shadows. Due to the leak, proper beta testing was cut short.

Can this be done without using console commands? If so, I'll take it as a challenge! Tejas Stalker needs to create his famous Liquidator challenges for Lost Alpha. I haven't played more than 15 minutes, but even now I want to get all the places it looks to be impossible to reach. :D

Installed the patch, but although I'm only about 10-15 minutes in and have only just got out of Sid's bunker, I don't really fancy restarting because I get obsessive about things. That should be fine, right?

Having difficulty installing. I followed the instructions, but I do not like allowing the third party programs to install such as DirectX - I'm up to date anyway, and I never let games mess with other programs like that. XR_3DA just won't load, it keeps giving me an application error of 0xc000007b...I did download from the mega link.

Let's have a laugh about the delay. I'm currently in a production of Blackadder Goes Forth for my local amateur theatre, and the whole situation can be summed up like this - it's the old communication problem. Dezowave contacted ModDB, and ModDB's reply was that there was a terrible lion up their end, so there is an advantage to an enema at once. :D

Careful...don't tempt fate. I mean, if you type Google into Google you can break the internet, so what happens if you press F5 three times while looking in a mirror? Sidorovichjuice!

The goal being to make sure as many people go insane as possible so that when the serves come back up, the rest of us don't have to worry about traffic to download. :D

I fear I have told you too much already...

It's Stalkers! Tourist's Delight is Stalkers! :O

Well, you and everyone else feel free to go nuts :D. Less people downloading = makes it easier for me to download. *twirls his moustache*

I will ditto this. In fact, I'll go even further - do not trust any videos of the leaked version since it's a sure bet that people are going to tamper with it to smear Dezowave, especially people who condone the leak and don't like the team.

I remember the very first time I ventured into X-18. Twenty minutes I was cowering in a corner on the bottom level! The moaning of the poltergeist was horrifying! When it turned out to just be a ball of energy... I expect it'll be even more horrifying in Lost Alpha, and there's probably a liability disclaimer somewhere in the game should I experience any medical complications from going into those labs.

In the Zone, bloodsucker hunts you!

A whole two months later? :P

I wouldn't put much stock in what the people playing the leaked build have to say. Mucking about with the leaked build is tantamount to condoning the actions of the person/people who leaked the beta, and in my experience, there is so much animosity as regards the situation - especially on the GSC forums - that some people will say anything to discredit Dezowave in their anger and hatred. It's also a beta build, and as such it is safe to assume that if there are indeed any restrictions on the AI, it's to ensure that should anyone attempt to tamper with it, they won't have a complete product at the end of their theft.

I also wouldn't think some of the freedom originally planned by GSC for the AI will be in LA - one of the ideas was for the AI to be able to complete storyline tasks, but if the player took his/her time and then came to the task only to find the AI had completed it, it might cause a few issues; I can easily see people rushing through the game to beat the AI to such tasks, and in my experience, fans of the Stalker games aren't the type to rush through games to the finishing line. Many people enjoy Stalker because they have the choice to play the game at their own pace and not be forced down a corridor, just like with other game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls; players even have the choice to never finish the main storyline.

All I can really say is...the content is 'cut' in relation to what, exactly? Even released with content being 'cut', we are getting far more from LA than each individual Stalker game offered on release, and likely just as much if not more than SoC, CS and CoP all combined into one. You'd probably have to lump all the official releases plus a few mods together to get the detail LA is going into.

In this instance, 'unfinished' simply refers to the fact that some of the planned features won't make it into the initial release and that Dezowave haven't been able to do everything they were planning on, but by no means is it 'unfinished', and it is certainly not 'unfinished' compared to the games released by huge developers such as Bethesda who promise all sorts and take ages after release to finally deliver - or never deliver at all. Dezowave are delivering on their promises as evident from their previews, and also as much as they possibly can considering the situation.

Well said, [TZP]LoNer1. When I first saw the release date, I didn't know what to think, but then thought this might finally be the much anticipated release. I started reading the comments, and when I read about it being leaked...terrible news. It is an awful thing to happen to such a dedicated and hard working team, and they deserve far better than that betrayal of trust.

Whatever Dezowave and the team consider the best course of action, we should be behind them. We should also do our best to encourage them to steam on ahead with their original plan, and if it takes another year for them to release - so be it!

They will feel despondent, and they have every right to feel that way, but the most important thing is this - it isn't that something terrible has happened, it's what Dezowave do to deal with the situation now. Bad things will happen in life, and you've got to be stubborn and face events and people down, you've got to keep in the race. My advice to Dezowave - do whatever you have to, but make sure it sits right with you and that years from now, you won't be wishing you made a different decision.

Heh, I couldn't read the recent interview with the sales team member due to not being able to read Russian (and Google Translate didn't manage a very good job of it either). Certainly explains the delay, and I knew it'd be something important. It makes sense, since you've been allowed to do things with the engine many modders dream of and will never be allowed to do with a vast majority of games. Keep up the excellent work, no rush*.

*I'm not saying that last bit because my computer's BSOD issues would prevent me from playing LA at the moment anyway - honestly!

I believe it's the gameplay video released, the 'Latest Video' above the comments. :)

But...but...42 is the answer to the greatest question there ever was. If the release date of the LA isn't the question, then what is? The meaning of life? Hah, that'll be the day! ;)

I know, the release date is...42!

And solitaire! :D

Old Good Lost Alpha Requital Lurk DMX Narodnaya AMK Dead Zone Super Oblivion Storyline Evolution Mod, more like. :P

One possibility (just speculation) is that LA could be released 10 years after the original planned release of Stalker (2003-2013).

Tejas has undoubtedly spent a great deal of time creating the LA Liquidator tests during his beta playthrough.