Soon after the full version of Chernobylite was released, we were surprised to see that many of your opinions about the game specifically mentioned the soundtrack. You praised it a lot, above all for its excellent rendering with the atmospheric sounds of the desolate Chernobyl Zone. At the same time, we started receiving questions about whether the game soundtrack would be made available sometimes in the future. Today we’re able to fulfill this wish: the soundtrack is available for purchase on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1847400/Chernobylite_Soundtrack/

However, we decided that it was definitely not enough to throw a soundtrack for you and nothing else. That is why we wanted to share something completely new and special: an insight into how the key musical themes for Chernobylite were created. And who would be more qualified to tell you about this process than the composer himself, Mikołaj Stroiński? Let’s dive right in.

Preludes to the Darkness

This is the theme you can hear right at the base. Delicate guitar strings calm us down and help us focus, build and plan Igor’s next moves. What’s interesting, Mikołaj had the pleasure to compose four pieces for an acoustic guitar for this particular part of Chernobylite.



"The need came more from the outside: players were attached to the so-called temporary music (from Early Access - perm.), which was based on an acoustic guitar. I never intended to treat this situation as an obstacle - quite the opposite. A composition for a solo instrument requires a responsible composer who can use the sounds of a given instrument as widely as possible. In such cases, my goal is usually to compose something musically interesting without distracting the player." Mikołaj also admitted that after creating these four songs, he subsequently had to use the guitar sounds in many other places in the game to ensure the coherence of the soundtrack.

Tatyana Theme

Chernobylite wouldn’t be Chernobylite without Tatyana and her trademark instrument - the violin. Both this, and the fact that the violin sounds were used in Early Access, meant that Tatyana's theme had to be composed for this instrument.



”This theme is divided into 5 short phrases that can be played in any order while keeping the musical sense” - says Mikołaj - “Tatyana appears randomly in the game and if she played the same phrase every time, it could seem trivial and quickly get boring. It is worth noting that the phrases have been composed in such a way that they always match any exploratory music playing in the background at the same time. As for the melody composition itself - to help stand out from the background of exploratory music, Tatyana's theme is built on broad musical intervals hence drawing attention to itself. The default harmony under the melody would be based on a simple relationship between the tonic and the dominant, which corresponds to the harmony of simple Russian songs."

Heist, start

More specifically, it's about the end-game theme, when Igor and his crew try to get to the power plant for the second time. As Mikołaj says, he had composed a piece consisting of four stems up to this point. Stems are groups of tracks ripped together into one file, such as, for example, all the drums, guitar, bass and vocal parts. They all loop in the game engine, but turn on and off in various combinations, depending on the moment of the game and the size of the space the player is currently in.



”So in the beginning, when the player traverses the forest and moves along the railroad cars, it is a fairly open space and three layers are “playing". When he enters the car and the situation of concentration occurs, the number of layers is reduced to two. After killing (or bypassing) the enemy soldiers, you exit into a very open area of ​​the yard and the game engine turns on all layers, which also emphasizes the success of defeating the enemy. Around the yard, we face the task of opening the electric lock and the optics return to a more focused one. This is followed by another limitation of the reproduced layers of the work”.

Final Walk Amongst the Fractals

Igor's last visit to the fractal world required creating the right atmosphere. Mikołaj admits that in order to achieve the intended goal, he spent a lot of time programming and preparing appropriate sounds.



”Due to the fact that the world of fractals is a kind of afterlife, beyond time and full of unbridled energy, I started by creating sounds to support this energy - very intense, but set in a background, which gave it depth. For example, I recorded audio files and reversed them so that they would play backwards with high intensity. The imposition of a quick ostinato on the synthesizer has become the basis for a harmony that communicates a summary of the events contained in the game's plot and something great, unattainable and uncontrolled. The melody on the strings and the "howling organic sound" tells about the longing for another human being, but in a timeless, not intimate way, reflected in the fractal world. I gave the piece a broad "Hollywood" sound with adequate music production."

Hope you enjoyed the first part of the musical tour of Chernobylite. In the next installment, we will tell you more about the music accompanying the visits to some other locations.

Take care, Stalkers!




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With the Lunar New Year upon us, the year of the tiger is on the prowl. Luckily, you won’t have to deal with any supernatural tigers in the Zone, there are enough monsters as it is. It’s best you hunt them before they hunt you.

Do just that by taking advantage of Steam’s Lunar New Year sale before February 3 and save 20% on Chernobylite today!




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Chernobylite won Best Atmosphere in New Game Network’s Game of the Year 2021! In addition, it also won runner-up in the Best RPG category. We’re thrilled that Chernobylite continues to gather praise for the faithfully reproduced, hyper-realistic environment and immersive experience it has to offer!

Have you experienced the Zone for yourself yet?




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Our weekly reports focus primarily on how Chernobylite was developed. However, this time we're going to tell you a bit about how the game actually works. In this context, it only makes sense to start with the most obvious: weapons. After all, the survival nature of Chernobylite requires you to defend yourself in all possible ways.

Before we move on to the main course, we would like to remind you that we are waiting for your feedback! Details can be found in the post below:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3118180956263447368

Soon after the release, we began reading your comments and opinions about the game. Some of you emphasized the fact that we managed to reproduce a "good feeling while shooting". We also have received praises for the realism of using particular guns in the game.

What if we told you that it was all an illusion? ;)

Of course, it's not just any random magic, but a general rule that applies to game development says that games do not equal reality. This is especially true for the shooting mechanics. We learned this lesson ourselves 10 years ago, when we visited a shooting range as part of our research for Get Even. We immediately noticed that some aspects of operating a weapon simply cannot be transferred into our game on a 1:1 scale. Hence the feeling of “realism” in gunplay could only be reproduced on an artistic level.



Take for example the way Igor holds a gun. Visually, it looks really cool. In reality, however, it is very impractical - after several minutes of such running, his hands would hurt as hell.




Another example: the lock of a regular rifle is usually on its right side. When the empty cases are ejected, the shooter cannot see them.



In many games you will come across a popular design solution where the lock is positioned on the left side of a rifle, so that the nice effect of ejected shell-cases is clearly visible. If this solution was applied to real world weapons, each shot could have ended with a shell-case hitting you in the teeth. Or eyes. Or your face in general.

In our game, we managed to make it as it should be. But at the same time, we took care of the appropriate visual effect for our game, even though it’s not 100% real, is phenomenal.




Another thing worth mentioning is that all external conditions, such as wind or bullet drop, have a huge impact on the accuracy and range of any firearm. It’s quite common to miss the target because we didn’t account for these conditions. In-game however, this is simply considered a bug that needs to be fixed.



Of course, weapons can't just look good. In general, the idea is to skillfully balance all its elements so that the whole thing makes a good overall impression. Take, for example, the Nagant, known simply as the Revolver in Chernobylite. In the game, you reload it just like in real life. It looks badass, and you can have the satisfaction of reloading your weapon, but the animation itself is long and the process can be irritating.



Therefore, for balance, we had to make the revolver deal more damage than the AK. Of course, it doesn't make the slightest sense, because the AK projectile has much more kinetic energy and generally causes more havoc to the body due to its shape. But it also doesn't really matter, because in reality even a single shot from both a revolver and an AK ends up being fatal for the target. That is why in games the damage is very rarely realistically reproduced. And the sight of Igor absorbing half a dozen bullets like a sponge without dying on the spot should come as a surprise.



We hope that this short post helped you to learn a little bit more about how Chernobylite weapon design and gunplay works. But it's not over yet - we have more educational materials that we want to share with you in the near future. Stay tuned.

Take care, Stalkers!




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Half a year ago we gave you the full version of Chernobylite. We’ve received a lot of feedback from you, both in the comments on Steam and in social media. Once again, thank you for all of them. Today, however, we would like to ask you about your overall impression.


The community around the game is extremely diverse, as we saw when reading your comments on the Internet. Each of you liked something different about the game; everyone had certain expectations that were met and not exactly. We tried our best to meet those expectations and we would like to know how well we did it.

Therefore, we have prepared a special, personalized survey on Chernobylite for you (link {LINK REMOVED}HERE). This way, we want to collect more detailed feedback from you about our game. Also we would like to know what kind of players you are: what elements of a game do you pay special attention to, which mechanics suit you better, what do you expect from modern games in general, etc. There are a couple of very simple questions about your preferences. The answers will be valuable tips that will help us in future projects.

But that doesn't mean we can't have fun doing it. The last question is an open-ended question that requires a bit of imagination and knowledge of games, including, of course, Chernobylite. We will reward the best answers with valuable prizes:

- glowing in the dark t-shirt
- unique Black Stalker mask
- artbook
- map of the Zone
- a set of Chernobyl postcards

We are waiting for your answers until 27.01. Don't hesitate! Tell us how we can get even better!

{LINK REMOVED}

Good news Stalkers!

It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re wandering the wastelands in Chernobylite, so we’re extending the duration of the Chernobylite Holiday Fan Art contest until the end of January! With this extra time, we bet you’ll create a masterpiece.

We can’t wait to see your radioactive creativity–send in your submissions soon!




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In our reports, we often refer to what we are preparing for you in the near future. This way we revealed the content of Ghost Town step by step a few weeks before the release of this update - little things that didn't say much, but were quite enough to satisfy your appetites. Today we would like to look a little further - a few months ahead, to talk about something really big. Literally and figuratively. Here are the unfinished cooling towers of units 5 and 6 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant!



When the construction was planned, the towers were supposed to help cooling two yet-to-be-built new reactors (5 & 6) in the future. The existing ones used water from the Pripyat river in an open-cycle. But those towers were never finished - the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 stopped not only the power plant, but all the works around it. What about the towers? How big are they? The diameter is 120 meter with the height of about 150 meters.

Recently, during our last trip to Chernobyl, we had the opportunity to take a closer look at this structure. Literally, from the very inside.







We were able to take a lot of photos and record a lot of film material there, and also - which is equally important - record a lot of sounds.






However, the best views were outside. Especially near the water reservoir - here we had to be really careful not to fall into the water.








The reference material we collected during this trip was not in vain. Soon after returning to Poland, we started to transfer these views to the virtual world. We started modestly, with the preparation of assets...




…and then we went on to designing the entire level from scratch.






Do you see the differences?




It already looks pretty good. But there is still a long way to go until we give this area over to your use. From the very beginning, we wanted you to feel as if you were there when playing Chernobylite. We intend to keep our words to the very end.

Take care, Stalkers!




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HAPPY NEW YEAR! As you can see, some of us are still celebrating.



Others slowly return from holidays. We have a very busy year ahead of us, which can be seen in this picture.



Yes, a lot of good things await you this year. Rest assured, we’ll reveal more details about what we’re currently working on soon. Well, maybe not right away - first we’ll have a little fun with you, as we are used to. ;)

Before we enter the new year for good, let's stay in 2021 for a while. Of course, we’ll not do a summary again - we did so in the last report. Instead, we want to take a little look at the end of the year. Because then we received from you two of the best gifts that a small studio like ours could receive from its fans.

First Gift: Chernobylite was voted the best indie game of 2021! Our game was selected from among 100 other productions that took part in the Indie DB contest. Thank you for all your votes!



Second gift: Chernobylite has been in the top 10 highest grossing games to leave Early Access last year! In other words: you strongly supported our project long before the official premiere. The interest in the game exceeded our wildest expectations. And for this we would like to thank you once again with all our hearts!

The new year brings new challenges. We hope to go through them together!

Take care, Stalkers!




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In a few hours we will welcome 2022. We’re very, very excited about what the new year will bring us. We hope you do too, especially if you've seen our roadmap. However, before we look into the glass ball in search of an answer to the question of what awaits us in the near future, we would like to go on a journey with you. 12 months back to be exact.

Out of curiosity, we looked at all the reports from the past year, and gosh, we were taken by nostalgia. We were preparing the last mission for you, we polished the game to the limit, we tossed you various curiosities from the backstage of the game's development, and most importantly - we counted the days to the premiere of the game on PC, and then also on consoles. Oh yes, the past year has been extremely intense for us.

Before midnight strikes, we would like to remind you of the most interesting moments of the old year. Because no matter how you look, you also were a lot of part of those memories… So let's experience it again!

JANUARY

The new year brings new ideas. We had a pretty bold plan to show you more behind-the-scenes material. It was not just about graphics or object models without textures, but to authentically show how the game is made. The first thing we did was a conversation with Adam, our sound designer, who talked about how the sounds for the game are created. And that's with the use of homemade items.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2942506324965663959

The next week brings new touches to the game. Thanks to the new capabilities of Unreal Engine, we could, for example, improve the appearance of the water surface so that it looked… well, like water, not like cloudy slush. We also boast about new voiceovers - ALL lines have been re-recorded to make them sound more natural. As a reminder: it was in the middle of the pandemic, so we couldn't record anything in the studio. So it wasn’t easy.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3043838585267170744

Speaking of voice overs. Ian Russell, the award-winning British voice actor, narrator and most importantly our Igor told us a bit about his work on the game. A long but extremely fascinating conversation.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3039335620001527927

FEBRUARY

This month is marked by improvements and tweaks. For example, we've given a specific tutorial explaining what you can see in the mission view screen, improved the look of the base, especially the weapon crafting and upgrade tables, and the effect of falling raindrops. Maybe not much, but it does make a difference.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3042715219434760154

MARCH

Just before the Mega Patch was released, we asked for your help. We started a closed test of the patch, in which a group of 100 people could participate. These people had the opportunity to test the patch with all its content before we released it to the public. We didn't have to wait long for your response - applications started arriving a minute after the advertisement was published.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3030332860923490188

Testing was needed because we wanted to release a patch without major bugs. Our forum on Steam was filled with bug reports and shortcomings. We admit some were even fun.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3008941395559790180

APRIL

Mega Patch testing was in full swing. Meanwhile, we are revealing, piece by piece, what new content we will introduce with it, such as the companion inventory system and a tutorial of… death.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3005564330492948747

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3100140557212092073

In mid-April, we revealed a new enemy - Heavy Armored Soldier. A piece of mother**** that is no joke to fight. In addition, we launched a large community art competition with lots of prizes to be won. Also, a video of Olivier's lore has been released on our YouTube.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3037090795551299166

A few months of hard work, both for us and yours, and Mega Patch was finally here. Rewritten dialogues, new characters, the long-awaited Heist, gameplay improvements and much, much more. This was perhaps one of the thickest updates.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3059609427951998126

MAY

We deflate some air. In the report, we explained to newcomers why the story in Chernobylite is so important and how much of an impact on the perception of the game are the supporting characters. We also explained the genesis of Ariadna, which is also an important element of the narrative layer. We also answered the question, what does this mysterious device have to do with Get Even?

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3079876894669275653

In the next report, we explained our comrades' weapons system. It turns out that giving them armor and weapons can be very helpful in fulfilling their missions.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/5660440217694290298

In the Mega Patch, we introduced a new tutorial explaining why it's worth dying sometimes. It is also a new way of extracting weapons, as well as a minor improvement in the inventory, thanks to which it will be difficult to get lost. In addition, we presented the results of the competition. We will say it again: you are mega artistically gifted.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3041597566486166728

This is one of our favorite reports. In it, we showed the first concepts of the fractal world and how the idea evolved into the form you see today. In addition, we explained the importance of items and evidence found by Igor, as well as conversations with characters for the construction of fractal reality.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3019080202255987439

JUNE

The beginning of the month brings further insight into how Chernobylite has developed over the years. For example, you may have learned that the village in the Red Forest was founded as a result of the need to show samosals who still live in the zone. Over time, the idea grew, and finally the village became an inseparable element of the game's plot.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3042724733957434274

Heist Quick Guide. How to prepare for the mission, why is it important to complete the boards in the base and how does it affect the team members, how many choice paths we have, etc.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3042725371156667779

The next report is another guide. This one can be titled "Why It Is Worth Caring For Our Companions". Their whims and pleading cries for help are definitely not something to be ignored.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3005571306969550652

We have introduced a new difficulty level to the game - Insane. Probably not everyone knows how it works. So we took on this task to show it. It was a very painful experience...

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2981928041980433762

26 days to the game's premiere. In the report, we explained with content examples how the choices we make have a significant impact on the further course of the game. This is especially evident in Heist. The more, it is worth being interested in the possibility of changing the timeline.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2981928042008626325

JULY

19 days to the premiere. This time we showed why it is sometimes worth listening to the whims of our comrades. If you don't want them to get pissed off at you and, as a result, quit the team, maybe it's worth taking care of an appropriate existence in the base.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2981928042026525116

12 days to the premiere. Meanwhile, we showed a new toy. And quite a big one, which can cause damage.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/4703431001421376901

5 days to the premiere. And we go back to the past. To time, when Chernobylite hits Early Access in fact. An old intro, an attempt to get to the power plant, an earlier incarnation of the fractal world and a base half filled with water.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2983056479585199467

July 28, 2021. Chernobylite officially premieres on PC!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2983056479596286759

Part two of our trip to 2019. Quite a painful return, because then we can see how much difficulty was. But this is also the moment when you can check how much the whole world of Chernobylite has changed. Probably for the better, right?

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2983057112761456541

AUGUST

Summary of the first week of the premiere. Over 4,000 reviews, almost 4,000 played the game simultaneously, in total over 4 million watched our streams on Steam. And also we encouraged you to take photos in the game using the photo mode.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2977428247146656691

These are also the first reviews of gaming media ...

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2985310180817294087

...and the players themselves.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2967296416602660505

A moment of breath for us (holidays!). The report includes a series of films showing the backstage of the game. There were also many anecdotes from our trips to Chernobyl.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2963919441273111932

SEPTEMBER

We also found tons of material documenting our work in Chernobyl.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2963919441291471247

A short reminder about the release date of the console version, and a tease of the upcoming DLC.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2881731277546709766

We've collected Chernobylite console reviews in one place. It is also a great opportunity to show off a new website and a new roadmap.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/2883983628174681026

OCTOBER

We are slowly coming back from long holidays. Before the whole team gets into the vortex of work, we share interesting facts from the game that not everyone knew about. For example, the fact that it was possible to end the game... right at the beginning of the game.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3012336854688920823

We tease "Monster Hunt", the first big expansion to the full version of the game. We also gave important information about the game for consoles - a patch to fix the most important bugs in the game will be released at the end of the month.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3044989230680288536

"Monster Hunt" Premiere! We're adding missions to the game to chase down the most powerful monsters in the zone. And it’s for free! Because of Halloween, we've added a pack of pumpkin skins and pumpkin ornaments to the base.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3085522248132542164

NOVEMBER

Another of our favorite reports. We browse through all YouTube and Twitch videos for people who fell off their chairs in fear. Well, there was no falling off the chair (there was one escape), but we had a lot of fun anyway.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3126056548246202080

The next two reports are special to us. 2020 closed the borders, and this meant the suspension of any foreign travel. Well, the borders have opened again. So we took the opportunity and went to Chernobyl again. We brought from there a lot of video, photo and audio materials, as well as a lot of new memories.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3123805381744599640

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3123806002403213849

DECEMBER

Another tease of another free update. One whole report was devoted to the history of the "Lazurny" swimming pool, which a few days later officially appeared in the game.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3123806740758235242

Before the expansion is officially released, we wanted to show you at least a small part of it. But we made the mistake of giving Mikhail the camera in his hand, and it turned out as it turned out...

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/4453495168680164314

The last free update this year. With "Ghost Town" everyone can visit Pripyat. In addition, we released another paid DLC (kept in a winter climate) and a long-awaited soundtrack.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/4453495168680241953

Happy new year, Stalkers!




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Stalkers, we’ve got some radioactive news! Chernobylite has won the Player’s Choice Indie of the Year 2021! We’re thrilled that so many players enjoyed the hyper-realistic environment, eerie atmosphere, and RPG mechanics of the game.

Thank you so much for all of your votes and support!

See all winners in the special video by IndieDB:






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