STALKER: Lost Alpha was a Shadow of Chernobyl mod released back in April. Once planned as an official STALKER expansion, it was leaked ahead of time—putting an end to the paid-for deal. Disappointed but undeterred, the team eventually released the mod for free.
That, it seems, is not the end of the story. "Some people already buried our project, but we are still working on our dream game," writes the mod team in a new announcement. They compare Lost Alpha's initial release to an "early access" project, saying, "many people simply did not understand they are playing a work in progress game."
The next update, it seems, will be the biggest by far—so much so that they've decided to mark it as a special "Developer's Cut" enhancement.
"What do we plan to add? More life to the Zone, earlier unlocked freeroam for NPCs, less empty places on huge levels, revised weapons and trading system, revised atmospheric Ukrainian weather," they write, before continuing to list lots and lots of other things. You can see the current patch notes here, although they'll be continually revised as the mod approaches completion.
Lost Alpha's original aim was to restore cut content to Shadow of Chernobyl. Eventually, it expanded in scope—becoming a completely parallel campaign across restored and re-imagined areas.
