As promised, we are continuing with our series of entries, in which we intend to tell you how the individual elements of the game were created. Today we will talk about the most important one, which is the main character. Meet Igor Khymynuk.

Some players were very surprised that we don’t control the modern Rambo - one that breaks through the levels and unloads the entire series from a rifle at its opponents. This would probably solve the problem of entering the power plant area faster and more efficiently. The reason why it was different is quite simple: from the beginning, we didn't want to make a game that was totally action-oriented and/or shooting-oriented. On the contrary!



Chernobyl is a beautiful and mysterious place, full of secrets and dangers. The sight of a soldier definitely does not encourage fighting, but rather fleeing. We wanted to reflect our true emotions from real visits and experiences in Chernobyl, not to create an American abstract action movie. Hence, it was natural for us to create a hero of flesh and blood, who avoids fighting, does not want to kill, but is clever enough to defeat the opponent. When creating Igor, we had in our minds such characters as Joel from The Last of Us, a journalist from Outlast, and James from Silent Hill. They are just normal people who find themselves in an abnormal situation.

In addition, keeping with the historical realities, we also wanted to create a character who was somehow influenced by the Chernobyl disaster. Preferably one for whom it was her or his immediate experience, or even better - they worked at the power plant. And since the catastrophe took place almost 40 years ago, the hero needed to be of a specific age, and have a specific approach to solving problems. And so Igor is a man who’s been through a lot and has a doctorate in physics and chemistry. A person with such a background would rather avoid combat and construct traps than throw himself into action with a rifle in his hand. Besides, you know very well that Igor doesn’t react best when he needs to kill another person...



What motivated Igor to throw himself into the middle of the Chernobyl zone was the desire to find his beloved, who went missing on the day the power plant exploded. This is the main plot.

The Chernobyl disaster hides two particularly interesting puzzles: why did it happen, and what happened right after it? A lot of books, films and documents have touched the first question. (recently even a TV series). When it comes to the second question: stories about the victims of a catastrophe are a difficult subject of research and investigation.In addition, two days after the disaster, the city of 50,000 was evacuated - people were packed in buses and transported to unknown places throughout the USSR. Families were separated, many people disappeared without a trace. The fact that someone returns to Chernobyl to find a loved one who has disappeared is actually the first thing that comes to mind after hearing these stories. This motif was a perfect fit for Igor and Tatiana's story: two lovers separated on the day of the catastrophe and now trying to find each other after many years. The paranormal elements are merely a diversifying addition.



As for implementing the main theme - without going into too much detail, to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t yet played Chernobylite - we can say that the story has gone through three iterations: before the start of Early Access, right after the game's release on EA (we took into account the feedback of players who had some comments), and the third and final one, a few months before the official premiere. Each iteration more or less affected Igor. Because the more complete the vision of the game was, the more Igor evolved with it.

Before we finish this post, we have a little announcement for you. Be with us next week, July 28. We are preparing a lot of surprises for you on the occasion of the first anniversary of Chernobylite. You cannot miss :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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So far, in our reports, we've talked about the genesis of the game and what path it took to release almost a year ago. So it's time to go from the general to the specific. In today’s and the following reports, we are going to tell you in the smallest detail how the individual elements for the game were created. In today's episode: monsters.

The first prototype of the monster was inspired by the "shadows" drawn in the form of graffiti on the walls (in the game, they are visible inside the buildings in the Moscow Eye). We thought it would be great if these shadows came to life. The living shadow motif is known in virtually every culture and is due to imperfections in the interpretation of the image of our brain: when we are tired, it is quite dark, we may think that we see a character's movement that looks like a "shadow", or that something has moved on the edge of our eyesight. So the concept sounded great from the conceptual point of view and fit perfectly with the atmosphere we wanted to achieve.



Unfortunately, Captain Reality has strongly verified our plans. On paper, the concept of living shadows looked great, but when it came down to creating it, it wasn't that fun anymore. Working on it was very tedious and caused only problems. The opponent was difficult to notice, the work on him was complicated, the influence on the performance of the game was quite big. Overall, it didn't work. And this despite the fact that the game at this stage was not supposed to be a typical shooter, but a more walking horror game inspired by Outlast, in which the player has to run away and hide from the opponent, not fight him.



Meanwhile, the other prototypes were doing much better. Despite the very small team, shooting with the soldiers was quite decent. And Chernobylite as the substance and the main antagonist of the game was becoming something more than just a strange crystal causing hallucinations. It can be said that what the game is now is the fruit of the inspiration of Expanse and Stranger Things.

We slowly began to understand that we simply needed more classic and physical monsters. Chernobylite, as a thinking substance began to change matter and adapt it to its needs, allowed us to make such changes. Shadow became a Borderer, a dark sack of skin filled with crystals with supernatural powers. We have replaced the chaos of the fight with a living shadow with the possibility of creating portals, and we have replaced running and hiding with classic weapons. The shadows remained only as a common name for all Chernobylite monsters. And as we mentioned, they can also be found on some walls as a graphic element.



The next monsters were just a creative use of this formula. Chernohost is actually a kind of clicker from The Last of Us whose appearance was inspired by radiation sickness and the fungus was replaced by crystals.

Duster, on the other hand, was created at a time when we felt that the scale of the game was definitely not tailored to the size and strength of the team. So we created a stationary creature with a very simplified AI that could teleport between preset points on a small area of ​​a given level. Artistically, it was an earthworm made of crystals crossed with a spider. It could break into crystal dust at any time and regain its form anywhere else.

One more thing: we will soon be celebrating the first anniversary of Chernobylite. Get ready, we have a lot of surprises for you :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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You received a lot of new stuff from us with the last major update. But the biggest (and the most intense for us) is the VR device. This small, inconspicuous toy that you can place at your base introduces a new challenge to the game. It’s not easy, but gives a lot of fun and satisfaction.



We have been thinking about exploring the fractal world in a way similar to roguelikes for a long time. If you remember, one of the first concepts of the fractal world involved walking with a weapon in a maze filled with enemies. It looked cool on paper, but didn’t work that well in practice. This concept was abandoned, but the very idea of ​​creating your own roguelike remained. We had the opportunity to rewrite our concept a bit and finally implement it into the game.



The result of these works is a VR device that allows you to move into the fractal world and face opponents in several arenas. Each subsequent one is more and more difficult, and resources are limited. Below we present a short guide on how to navigate through the new game mode and how to survive in it.

1. Know your enemy (and be well prepared for him)

At the beginning of each round, you will see a large tube filled with liquid containing the creature. Use it as an indication of who you will fight on the fifth level. Use this knowledge to be able to adapt your arsenal to the final battle.



2. Your inventory is everything

It's not like you can go straight to the arena with a Blaster in hand. Your inventory is limited to what can be found in the big container at the start of each round: weapons, some ammo and some resources needed for modifications. There isn't much of it, and it is possible that you won't do too much with these resources before the first round, but they will increase over time. If possible, don't use up everything right away.



3. Recycling is handy

There may be a situation where you have too many weapons in your inventory (yes, such a thought may appear in your head at some stage), and not enough resources needed to create specific modifications. Don't throw your weapons on the ground! Instead, use a recycling device. It will allow you to gain much needed resources, get rid of the unnecessary stuff and make room in your inventory for perhaps better weapons.



4. Rambo would be a terrible fighter

Wandering around the arena and shooting blindly at everything may look cool, but generally it's a rather bad idea. Use the element of surprise, sneak and, if you can, take your opponent off silently. Stealth is good for you. You should have fun in Rambo style only as a last resort.



5. Don't lick the walls

In the arena, your task is to defeat your opponents and survive. That’s it! Don't look for resources because you won't find them anyway, don't wander around the board because you have nowhere to go (the arenas are small). Better spend your time learning about the paths your opponents are walking and plan your attack.



These are the really basic rules that you should know. There is nothing we can do but wish you a fruitful hunt!

We continue our contest of Chernobylite keys to win. We remind you of the rules: we ask a question related to the game, and the fastest correct answer wins.

Olga may (or may not) have some affection for one of the crew. To whom?

We will announce the winner and the correct answer in the report and in the comments on Monday.

EDIT:

Answer: Sashko

Congratulations to your evil twin :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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Reminder!
Steam Summer Sale is on. Until June 7, you can buy Chernobylite and the previously released DLCs at a discount of -30%! Dive yourself in the dark zone today!



In the last report as part of our weekly contest we asked you about the nationality of Daniel (he was a Scot), with whom Mikhail was supposed to have had a conversation about the Moscow sewers. This anecdote may seem random, made up for the game by our writer... but this character is actually inspired by a real life writer.

The person that Mikhail spoke about is actually Daniel Kalder - a Scottish-born writer who spent ten years in the former Soviet Union, where he undertook all sorts of jobs. He described the experiences gained while visiting disused Moscow Metro tunnels and sewerage channels in one of his books called "Strange Telescopes". By the way: we recommend it wholeheartedly.



Chernobylite is filled to the brim with all sorts of references and easter eggs that harken to the real world as well as pop culture. The example with Kalder and the already widely known quote from HBO Chernobyl "3,6... Not great, not terrible" are among them. However, believe us, there is more. Today we are going to present to you only some of them.



A mysterious stalker, whom we can meet nodding in a chair with a revolver in his hand, is a source of a whole bunch of references. At first glance, we are dealing with a possessed person through whom evil forces are speaking. However, the words he utters, although they sound like gibberish, have hidden meanings.



For example, "Do you have to open graves to find girls to fall in love with" is nothing more than a quote from the 1932 movie "The Mummy" (great movie by the way).




"Crudox cruo" and "En marana" are the lines spoken in a mysterious language of the cultists you can meet and hear in Blood 3D, an FPS released in 1997.




H. P. Lovecraft also had his guest appearance. "That is not dead... that which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even love may die" is a slightly modified quote from the story "The Nameless City", which originally reads "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die”. One word, but how much it changes the meaning of the whole.



Speaking of pop culture, it's hard not to mention the good-natured Evgeniy. When Igor asks him about lootboxes, he at some point replies, “My lootboxes are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get." This is, of course, a nod to the movie "Forest Gump".



Dialogues with companions are another powerful source of reference, but this time to historical events that happened in reality. An example is Mikhail, who tells about his deceased friends: Zina, Yuri, Ludmila, Igor. These are the names of the four out of nine students who mysteriously died during a so-called Dyatlov Pass incident that is still shrouded in mystery. You can read more about it here.



By talking to Tarakan, we can also learn something interesting…and disturbing. In one of the dialogues, Tarakan will say: “The gulag at Nazino Island… thousands of little city mice… sent on a voyage to hell. My father was there”. If anyone wanted to explore this thread, they would find out that such a place really existed. A story about Nazino Island, also known as the "cannibal island" is terrifying, too strong even for a Steam entry. If you want to know more, we refer you to books and documentaries.

To relax the atmosphere a bit, let's move on to one of the conversations with Sashko. On one occasion he questions our protagonist’s’ taste in music and says:

“We need to remedy this situation, pronto! I want you to listen to "Sex, Kvas and Hardbass." It will change your understanding of music forever!”.

It is an authentic piece which is also a milestone in the hardbass trend. Enjoy!



What we just presented to you is only part of what you can find in the game. When playing Chernobylite, it pays to keep your eyes open. Who knows what you may stumble upon! Let us know if you were successful!

We continue our contest of Chernobylite keys to win. We remind you of the rules: we ask a question related to the game, and the fastest correct answer wins.

“Don't worry about me, just wipe the servers! Go to "[blank]", download "smelly_panties_of_doom", and execute!". What is the full site address?

We will announce the winner and the correct answer in the report and in the comments on Monday.

EDIT:

Answer: www.heartisalonelyhunter.ru

Congratulations to King Tiger :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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Before we get into the report, we have two very important pieces of information for you!

New, free content for Chernobylite already available with Season 2!

Season 2 Red Trees is now available to everyone! A new pack introduces a new VR set in Igor's base that will allow players to play a game inside the game, introducing a new, roguelike inspired, mode - VR Games.

Another addition is 6 new story missions. The Ghosts of the past expansion sees Tatyana manifesting in Igor's dreams. This sets the protagonist on a journey to iconic locations in the Zone.

There is also a video game station! This element is part of a cosmetic Play it add-on, and with atmospheric post-soviet looks will compliment the player’s headquarters.

For more info about Season 2 check out our news bellow:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/4777770825733809637

Chernobylite and DLC in a mega promotion!

If you haven't had a chance to play Chernobylite yet, now's a good opportunity to do so. The game and all DLCs released so far are available at a lower price of -30%. Dive yourself in the dark zone today!



We've proven in previous reports that in order to survive in the Zone, you need more than to fire an entire moon clip from a revolver. First of all, you need to use your head. Igor seems to be perfect for the job - he’s a scientist, not a soldier. On the other hand, you also need weapons to protect yourself from NAR mercenaries and monsters. Again: Igor is a scientist, not a soldier.

But it's not like he's going to magically produce a rifle out of his pocket. He can, however, create said rifle from the things he finds in the Zone and then learn how to use it. Moreover, he can even modify his weapon to suit his needs. Because crafting is not only a complex element of our game, but also a way to show Igor as a credible character who can adapt to the conditions. Something like MacGyver in Chernobyl (BTW who remembers the TV series eh? Let us know! ;))



When designing the crafting system, we tried to convey the essence of hand-made things. Therefore, the first thing that catches your eye are the visuals associated with it. The crafting tables themselves were designed from the very beginning in such a way that the player could, upon first glance at a given table, recognize what he could use it for. That is why we embellished it with elements characteristic for a given type of weapon, and added a whole lot of other stuff that can be found in virtually every garage workshop.






The weapon modification system itself also works primarily visually - each weapon has specific elements attached or modified that almost completely change the appearance of a given weapon. But what was most important to us was that these add-ons should not only change the numbers in the parameters, but also give something extra in terms of looks and feel.

Several things are happening from the artistic and gameplay side. First, the animations change when using weapons. Take, for example, how a character behaves when replacing a magazine. The magazines are modified in various forms (they are of different sizes and widths), so the artist had to prepare dedicated animations for each one of them. At this point it is worth emphasizing that these animations are not standardized - literally each of these animations is made completely from scratch. There is no point of reference between them, no recycling of the previous animation, no copy-paste. Multiply the number of various magazines by the number of weapons in the game, and you will get the number of animations.

Secondly, depending on the modification, the reloading time also changes, e.g. a large magazine makes reloading longer, a small magazine - shorter. Also, if we focus on the magazine capacity, we pay for it with time, which can be of great importance when confronting a stronger opponent. A small magazine, in turn, means a shorter reload time, but also the risk that the enemy will not die after unloading the entire series on him.










This is obvious. But what is less obvious is, for example, the recoil of the weapon when fired. Gun firing is also done as an animation, not something procedural. Thus, any modification of the weapon that affects the recoil of the weapon (gameplay side) also changes the shooting animation (artistic side). That is why it is important to experiment when modifying a weapon, check various options, test, so that the end result is fully satisfactory for you.




Fun fact: in one of the magazines you can find a pattern that Igor associates with Tatiana. You just have to remember that Igor is a scientist, not an artist…




We continue our contest of Chernobylite keys to win. We remind you of the rules: we ask a question related to the game, and the fastest correct answer wins.

When Mikhail was living in England, he met a guy named Daniel with whom he talked about the Moscow sewers. What was Daniel's nationality?

We will announce the winner and the correct answer in the report and in the comments on Monday.

EDIT:

Answer: Scottish

Congratulations to iRkQ :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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• VR Games - a unique and challenging game inception inspired by roguelike games which you may enter through a VR helmet in the Base. You will be transferred to the fractal world where you will face enemies (humans and monsters) in several arenas, each more and more difficult! Are you ready for a challenge?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ghost of the Past: 6 new story missions in which Tatyana manifests in Igor’s dreams and encourages him to visit various places in the Chernobyl Zone and learn the true history of Chernobyl.
  
  
  
  
• Play it! - Who said you can’t have a little fun in the Zone? While learning to craft various and very complex structures, electronics and tools, Igor found a way to build… a gamer’s hardware! Now you and your companions can have a little break from all the stresses and terror lurking in the Zone.

Bring the menacing Red Forest spirit into your base and give it an ominous look with the addition of new skins—the Red Trees Pack. Rusty leaves and the red glow emanating from devices will fill your companion’s hearts with warmth and strength for another tough day in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone..



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1958580/Chernobylite__Red_Trees_Pack/

New content is not the only thing we worked on. There are also a few fixes and changes:

• Stuttering optimization - we implemented a couple of fixes so the issue should be improved. Let us know if this helped on the Steam forum.
  
• Major changes in Turkish localization. We hope you like it better!
  
• And other minor improvements.

That’s all for today! Enjoy the new content and remember that this is not all we have planned for the game this year. In a few months we’re going to add a whole new location and an extremely challenging game mode!

Also, join us today on a livestream at 1:00 PM CEST via Twitch or Facebook!

For some, it may come as a shock to what we’re going to write now, but it is 100% true: Chernobylite is not a game about weapons. It is primarily a story about people who find themselves in a very strange situation; the story of an obsessed man who wants to achieve his goal very much and has tools that will allow him to do it.



On the one hand, these tools are people - the protagonist uses their help when he needs it. On the other hand, weapons are also a tool. We wanted the player to be armed after all. However, by creating Chernobylite in a certain way, we wanted to encourage the player not to play it like in a typical FPS, but to take an active part in this SURVIVAL horror game. Here you can't just push forward, carelessly firing volleys from your rifle. In our game, each confrontation has consequences in the form of wounds suffered during the fight and loss of ammunition. In addition, the weapons of NAR soldiers have biometric security, so they cannot be taken and used in combat, but at most you can disassemble them and take resources from them. In other words: fighting is possible, but there is more to lose than gain from it.



Yes, sometimes you have to fight, especially if you have no other choice. But there are many situations in which you can try to avoid a threat, or build a trap, distract your opponent, or simply give up, return to base and be better prepared for a confrontation. This is what we wanted: for the player not to approach Chernobylite as an action game, but utilize a whole range of options, from which they will be able to choose the best one and the one that suits them better.



There is one more thing: the player only has access to what they can find in the Zone and create with their own hands. Both this and the fact that they only have access to the old blueprints makes it impossible to create an uber-weapon. At least at the very beginning. If the player spends enough time in the Zone and studies the material of chernobylite, then they will have access to much more powerful weapons. But as long as resources are severely limited, relying on improvements and modifications to the current arsenal is the key.



But we will tell you about the modifications to the weapons and their parameters, as well as how, using animations (yes, animations!), we managed to achieve the right feeling not only during shots from the weapon, but also during crafting in the next episode.

We continue our contest of Chernobylite keys to win. We remind you of the rules: we ask a question related to the game, and the fastest correct answer wins.

One of the first concepts of the fractal world assumed that the main character would walk on the surface of...

We will announce the winner and the correct answer in the report and in the comments on Monday.

EDIT:

Answer: ...a large sphere.

Congratulations to ФЁРБИ-киська))) :)

And while we're still on the subject of weapons, an interesting view unfolds behind this unmodified revolver. I wonder where it is.



Take care, Stalkers!




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Chernobylite is a story about a search for lost love, a fight against unknown outliers out of this world and a mysterious organization that wants to use the knowledge gained in Chernobyl for its own interests. However, it is not enough just to move forward blindly firing your gun - everything needs to be carefully planned, and this can take days or even weeks. Thus, a seemingly simple (?) task becomes an attempt to survive in a completely unknown environment.

The basis of the idea for the game was an attempt to find an answer to the question of what would happen if people lived in the zone. Of course, this question came to our minds before we went to Chernobyl. Until then, we had no idea that people actually lived there! These are mainly the elderly, the most often ill, who refused to leave those areas years ago. They live in small villages, in which of all the houses, there is one left that somehow can be used. In part, it was them who inspired us to create Chernobylite.




But we were just as inspired by the stories of people who live in the zone illegally, that is, spend quite a lot of time there for a specific purpose. These are not tourists or a team like ours who came for a day or two days at the most. We think it is safe to call them stalkers. These people have a specific goal of being in this zone. We, too, gave Igor and the other heroes we met along the way a specific reason for being in the forbidden place.






It is interesting to note what ways these people have to survive in the zone for more than 1-2 days. At the basic level of gameplay planning, we were guided by the question "what if someone wanted to survive in the zone". So such a person would have to acquire resources, protect himself from radiation, avoid NAR patrols, etc. Of course, in a real zone, if a stalker is caught, he will be taken out of it, he will pay a fine, and that's it. We wanted to turn up the atmosphere a bit: we changed the policemen who only perform routine activities into an army of mercenaries, for whom killing a stranger in their area is nothing unusual. Especially since that's what they were hired for by a dark secret organization.




But every element in the game at the real level (that is, apart from all supernatural phenomena and creatures) has some sort of embedding in reality. For example, the fact that Igor and his companions are hiding in some bunker. We assumed that anyone who would like to illegally travel to the zone for a longer period and survive there would have to find some shelter. He would also have to take care of the resources necessary to survive, such as food, medicines, protective clothing, a bed, so as not to sleep on the floor and catch a cold, or worse. It was all partly due to real needs, only we tweaked them a bit in the game. We wanted to see what gets players engaged.




If someone had decided to go to the zone for a few or a dozen days ago, sat in a cold and dirty bunker, he would certainly have returned with joy to a warm and comfortable home, but stated that he would come back in some time. However, we wanted the tension resulting from being in the zone to increase day by day, so that we would still have the feeling that there was a task to be done, there would be twists and turns. Hence, all these changes that make our zone generate more adrenaline than it really is.

This is the very idea behind the Chernobylite survival. But what does it look like in practice, and why is the weapon not so important in this? We will tell about it in future reports.

Meanwhile, we continue our little game in which you can win Chernobylite keys for PC and consoles. We remind you of the rules: we ask a question related to the game, and the fastest correct answer wins.

What was the reason for us making the village in Red Forest?

We will announce the winner and the correct answer in the report and in the comments on Monday.

EDIT:

Answer: Our intention was to show samosely

Congratulations to hollamfoe :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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Before we start the report, we would like to share a reminder that Chernobylite was nominated by the Polish section of IGN to fight for the title of "Best Polish Game" of 2021. All nominated titles have a chance to win an audience award in that category. Please vote for Chernobylite! The voting lasts until June 5. Thank you for all your support!



The world in Chernobylite is not only a cluster of polygons and textures merged together by lines of code. It is also the experience of visiting buildings dominated by vegetation, crumbling walls, and a unique atmosphere that is difficult to imitate. And these cannot be recreated while sitting simply at a desk.



While working on both the Chernobyl VR Project and Chernobylite, we made a lot of trips to Chernobyl to gather the materials we needed. Being there, we felt like we were thrown in the middle of a computer game. Well, our trips in some way defined how the player explores the Zone in the game. But at the same time, we were quite aware that we are dealing with a place that exists in the real world.



From the very beginning - when we were creating the Chernobyl VR Project - we tried to show the Zone as close to reality as possible, not only in terms of its appearance, but above all, how it evokes emotions. It seems to us that Chernobylite stands out from other post-apocalyptic games, because the action of the game takes place in a real place. And it can be seen not in some imaginary concept sketches, but in photos, recordings and venturing through the Zone on our own.



Of course, there were some "tweaks" in how the game represents the world of Chernobyl, here and there. The Zone itself is a very quiet, peaceful and deserted place. We tried to reflect the atmosphere of the place that exists in the real world as accurately as possible, but at the same time to slightly colorize the elements that made it unique, to make the experience more intense. Everything we did in relation to the visualization of the Chernobyl Zone was intended to reflect the emotions we felt when visiting the zone, only more intense.



It was thanks to the trips to the Zone that we were able not only to absorb this atmosphere, but also to recreate it as it is. It was the experience that determined how we worked on the game.



Finally, we have something special for you! With this report, we are starting a contest series, where you can win Chernobylite PC and console keys every week. The rule is simple: we ask a question related to the game, the first correct answer in the comments wins. However, be warned: the questions will not be easy. Only for the hardcore Chernobylite fans.

Ready? So here we go!

What is the name of the locksmith's brother?

The correct answer and the winner will be announced on Monday in the comments section and in this report.

EDIT:

Answer: Athanasius

Congratulations to RenTGen :)

Oh, and for a #Friday leisure time:

No one:
People who drank too much at a party:



Take care, Stalkers!




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Before we start the report, we would like to share a reminder that Chernobylite was nominated by the Polish section of IGN to fight for the title of "Best Polish Game" of 2021. All nominated titles have a chance to win an audience award in that category. Please vote for Chernobylite! The voting lasts until June 5. Thank you for all your support!



In the last post we elaborated on how the Chernobylite world was born and what was the origin of the idea of dividing it into several areas. Today we will explain why we put the open world idea aside and what it has to do with technology. We will also share how dividing the map into smaller parts benefits the player.

You need to understand that in Get Even we had more freedom when it came to creating the world, unlike Chernobylite, where we had to reflect the real world. Additionally, the world presented in Get Even was closed and very linear. This means freedom of arranging the levels according to our will, but also the necessity of dealing with many complex technical aspects, like: how to open these levels, how much physical space should we give to the player, etc. In addition, we had to somehow make moving through endless corridors more attractive by putting some items here and there, adding events. We also needed to figure out how random they should be.



In the case of Chernobylite, we focused on a semi-open world. Why didn't we put the entire Zone into the game right away? Because it is way too big. People associate this place with photos and videos that show the most interesting places in the Zone, and these are only a fraction of the whole area. A big map means big problems. Preparing all this content so that running from one end of the map to the other would be interesting would require a lot of work. We preferred to focus on a few specific and most characteristic places and refine them to such an extent that they would look amazing and be fun to explore.

We have a lot of materials from the Zone itself. For some time we even had a problem sorting them properly, there were so many of them. We had entire walls covered with photos to feel the atmosphere of those places. We also had scans and videos. Thanks to all this, we were able to capture the atmosphere of the Zone, so it almost felt real.







Okay, we've divided the Zone into several characteristic places. But how to encourage the player to explore them? In this case, we've done our best to ensure that the player has several paths to choose from, no matter where they are on the map, and each path leads to something different. From one path the player will see a building they can enter, another one is in an alley, and elsewhere they see a powerful radar in front of them. It encourages the player to progress and explore in search of all the things that we have hidden on the map. We can almost guarantee that every time the player visits, there will be something interesting for them to find. It can be some resources to collect, an event, or perhaps a scary opponent.

This way, the player is rewarded for their decisions and wants to continue exploring the map. Each piece of the level has been designed with the player in mind, so that exploration makes sense.






You already know the reason why we gave up the open world from the design perspective. Now, it's worth clarifying this issue from the technical side. Making games in the open world is expensive and requires a proper approach to gameplay. We wanted our game to be more intimate. Additionally, you have to remember that Chernobylite is a game created by a very small team, even many times smaller than the one that worked on Get Even - the size of 30 people! The downside is that you have to make compromises. A lot.



Making an open world game requires a lot more attention to the optimization and performance of the game as a whole. If we decided to give the players the entire zone, large pieces of it would probably have to be generated longer. We know this because we tried to do it, but in the end the quality did not satisfy us enough to go this way. That is why we preferred to achieve maximum quality rather than forcibly create an open world. In other words: it's better to create something small and have full control over it than to create a huge project that will be buggy or not working at all.

Whether or not we made the right call, in the end will be decided by the players.

Take care, Stalkers!




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