Oct 25, 2022

Season 3: Green Walls is now live with new free content!

Chernobylite Complete Edition - Pablo

The next, already third major update in 2022 is now available to everyone! In the latest pack you will find a new mode that significantly increases the difficulty level, a new map and a weapon that can be modified at will. Additionally, we also have a surprise for music lovers.

New content:

Gate of Madness - a new game mode that significantly increases the difficulty level (note: available only to those who have finished the game). If you thought Insane was difficult, we have bad news for you. Only one save game available. Immediate death with insufficient chernobylite available. Madness, as a new stat indicator, permanently lowering the hero's mental condition, lower morale of companions or the inability to obtain weapons from killed enemies. These are just some of the difficulty-enhancing changes.
Brute Force - a new weapon. The Makarov is a classic Russian automatic pistol that, after upgrading, can be used as a type of submachine gun. And barrel modifications will give the shells special properties.
Cooling Towers! - a new map. The power plant cooling towers are two unfinished concerte giants close to Reactor 5 and 6 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Meant to evaporate the cooling water from two reactors, they were never completed as the disaster stopped all works on the site in 1986. The radiation level around them remains high even today. Now you will have the opportunity to visit this spot in person.
We have updated FSR to 2.1 (for DX12) and DLSS to 2.3 version, and added an option to control sharpness in the game while using FSR 2.0! But these are not the only changes. Check out "Fixes and optimization" for more information ;)

Paid content:

Zone Bard

Expansion of the original soundtrack with possibility to control the music in the base. We add a series of new guitar musical tracks with the possibility to interactively switch between them in the base using a playing device. Anytime in the base player can approach the radio and play the selected music track, including the old and brand new songs. Go back to the base, turn on the radio and enjoy the music you choose.

This DLC will be available for Early Access players for free!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2184830/Chernobylite__Zone_Bard_Pack/

Fixes and optimization:

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

Optimization:

We have updated FSR to 2.1 (for DX12) and DLSS to 2.3 version
Some of you suggested that having a control over sharpness in the game while using FSR 2.0 would be a good thing, so we added this option - you can adjust it in video settings at any time (applicable for DX12 version)
We fixed possible crash during benchmark session
We expanded information provided in benchmark test summary - now it also mentions FSR, Ray Tracing and DLSS
Sometimes the game was crashing during longer sessions when both FSR and Ray Tracing were turned ON - we made few improvements so it shouldn’t happen anymore
We have fixed small graphical glitches which were visible when using FSR on some versions of Nvidia graphic cards

Bug fixes (major bugs):

VR inception: It’s no longer possible to duplicate “use” interaction on VR machine which resulted in semi-blocker
VR inception: Thanks to your reports, we managed to catch and fix a bug where skills learnt inside VR would block the same ones available in non-VR mode. Thanks!
Jail: Loading saves in specific moments during the Chain Reaction mission resulted in Igor being unable to move. Fear not, you won’t be stuck in jail anymore. The fix will work even if you use the same save
Inventory: Some of you managed to get over 1000 chernobylite crystals and in such a scenario, quest items couldn’t be added to inventory which resulted in a blocker. We were impressed by you dedication and such amounts and decided to increase the crystals’ stack to make sure you won’t be blocked

Bug fixes (minor bugs):

Localization: Thanks to your keen eye for details, we got reports with spelling mistakes/typos in various texts. We fixed most of them. Once again - thank you!
Localization: Czech and French languages were missing in some dialogs - they are now added and displaying correctly
Timeline: It’s no longer possible to fall under terrain after sneaking into specific spot
Ray Tracing: We fixed few minor visual bugs

That's all for today! Have fun with your new content, and remember that it's not over. In a few months, the next and last big pack of new content awaits you.

Also remember, if you have any questions or problems, do not hesitate to contact us on the Steam forum - we’ll be there to help you! :)

Oct 21, 2022

Weekly Report #146

Chernobylite Complete Edition - Pablo

Hello Stalkers!

Season 3 is just around the corner, so we're continuing our mission of revealing (not too much) what we have prepared for you in the next update. In the previous report, we wrote about a brand new, even more twisted difficulty level. Today we present you with a completely new location, although some of you may have seen it before ;)

The power plant cooling towers are two unfinished concrete giants close to Reactor 5 and 6 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Meant to evaporate the cooling water from two reactors, they were never completed as the disaster stopped all works on the site in 1986. The radiation level around them remains high even today.

This spot has already appeared in our reports before. One of them was in fact a teaser showing the very early progress of work on the new map.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1016800/announcements/detail/4521054245224302227

In another report we showed the pictures from our last trip to Chernobyl, which took place at the end of last year. On that occasion, we had the opportunity to see the unfinished towers with our own eyes and collect materials from there that served as references.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1016800/announcements/detail/3123809822937640080

The trip to the place where the unfinished towers stand was also the perfect opportunity to explain to you how we collect ambient sounds and how we then implement them into the game. A piece of interesting reading that should be of interest not only to sound design lovers :)

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1016800/announcements/detail/3203756329339831652

Almost a year has passed since our departure, a lot has changed in our project since then. Soon you will be able to see it for yourself. For now, we're giving you a taste of what you'll see in the latest update.

We hope we whetted your appetites?

That's it for today!

Take care, Stalkers!

Do you like Chernobylite? Give us a review.

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Oct 14, 2022

Weekly Report #145

Chernobylite Complete Edition - Pablo

Hello Stalkers!

The launch of Season 3 (the next pack of cool stuff we're going to give you as part of the free DLC) is almost upon us. That is why we decided that it is time to shed some light on what we have prepared for you.

We'll start with something that made our team scream profanities and smash keyboards on the wall. Not because we're uncultured or something like that. It's all to do with the new difficulty level. Because with something like Gate of Madness, the Insane level sounds like a walk in the park on a summer morning.

There are several reasons why many of you will be swearing under your breath when playing Chernobylite on the Gate of Madness level. The most important ones:

you will only have ONE save file
if you don’t have enough Chernobylite, the death is permanent

And that’s it. No undoing of wrong decisions, no return to the situation from before a few saves. If you die and have no way to pay - it’s game over, man. Game over. It is therefore worth considering each step you take. But that's just the beginning.

From now on, each weapon will have to be crafted by yourself. No more getting guns from the bodies of dead NAR soldiers! And every new weapon is always useful, especially since from now on it can be damaged and require repair. And while we're on the subject, good luck with finding resources to build the necessary equipment and repair - with the new mode, we've further lowered the chance of finding resources on the maps.

If, after reading the above information, you think it will be safer to sit in the base, you are hugely mistaken. The base is heavily damaged from the very beginning and has only negative stats. It's like buying a house with a broken pipe, no balcony, no windows, no door handles, and no floors! As if that were not enough, every time you go to sleep, the radiation level rises a little. Always!

If you remember our previous reports, you know that the overall condition of the base has a huge impact on the health and morale of our comrades. Also, if you don't act quickly, you can lose them just as quickly. And the probability of this happening is quite high, considering that our comrades' morale is very low from the very beginning of the game. Oh, and did we mention a new stat for our character - madness? Thanks to it, the level of Igor's psyche will be lowered forever. Oh the joy…

We hope you’ll have a great time with this difficulty level. We certainly have.

Not.

That's it for today!

Take care, Stalkers!

Do you like Chernobylite? Give us a review.

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Oct 7, 2022

Weekly Report #144

Chernobylite Complete Edition - Pablo

Hello Stalkers!

In some of our previous publications we’ve been comparing the real world Chernobyl and its surroundings to what you can see in the game. Throughout this process we devoted a lot of space to the most famous locations near the famous power plant, e.g. Pripyat, Duga radar, the "Azure" swimming pool, and even the "Energetik". But there is also one other location that plays a fairly important role in Chernobylite. For some reason it didn’t gain the notoriety it deserved. And it’s a shame, because Kopachi is a unique place and its history is worth knowing.

It’s a small village located near Chernobyl, southwest of the Pripyat River basin. Before the Chernobyl power plant disaster, it was inhabited by just over a thousand souls. Kopachi was also one of the first towns to be evacuated from the contaminated zone. Residents hoped to the end that they would return to their homes one day, but that wish never came true. The village was buried due to high levels of contamination.

When we talk about burying, we mean houses and streets. The radiation level in the village was so high that the houses and farm buildings became unusable in any form. Almost every building was made of wood. Radioactive dust was clogged in every crack in a fence, beam, or any crossbar. Therefore, leaving them posed a threat to the surrounding animals. Therefore, the authorities decided to demolish every house in Kopachi, and bury their remains and the contaminated topsoil in hastily dug pits.

This solution wasn’t without flaws. The contaminants from the buried structures penetrated the groundwater and caused the radioactive isotopes to spread further into the ground.

The only buildings that lasted were a local kindergarten and another brick building with a war memorial, which until today are looked after by the employees of the power plant. There are a number of mounds bearing the international symbol of radiation in this area. As you can guess, digging in them would be ill advised. These mounds are all what’s left from most of the buildings within Kopachi.

This is the story of a place buried under tons of earth.

That's it for today!

Take care, Stalkers!

Do you like Chernobylite? Give us a review.

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Sep 30, 2022

Weekly Report #143

Chernobylite Complete Edition - Pablo

Hello Stalkers!

In our reports, we sometimes sneak in threads about ideas that looked good on paper but missed our game for various reasons. This was the case with Shadow which was literally supposed to be a real shadow, but bringing it into the game like that was only painful. Also with ideas for the fractal world, the appearance and purpose of which changed many times. However, if we think back and see our notes from years ago, we find a whole lot of ideas that were eventually thrown out of Chernobylite before its release on EA. We will only present you the examples that we still remember about ;)

When describing Sashko's silhouette, we noticed a rope dangling at his belt. As we wrote, the rope was to be more than just a decoration - with it the player was supposed to climb buildings etc. We also mentioned that this was one of the very, very many metroidvania elements that we wanted to have in our game. In addition to the rope, Igor was supposed to have in his inventory, among others explosives and even an acid neutralizer! However, at some point, these things got way too much, making the gameplay unreadable. In the end, we stayed with a few things that really fit the game and did not require such a large amount of work, such as a lockpick.

Another element that did not appear in the game are mini-games. They were boring, generic and very costly from the production point of view. We are a small studio and we wanted to stick to the principle of "less but better". If we remember correctly, these mini-games include a card game, as well as a hacking option. The latter even appeared briefly in Early Access.

When planning, we threw out the possibility of building rooms in the base - the player, instead of free building, could only decide on a specific type of already furnished room. In the end, we felt that having a lot of freedom in building a base just seemed more fun. And it was the right decision, which is confirmed in the photos from your bases :)

Another element of the game that did not survive the planning stage is the "crisis" system. From time to time there would be problems in the base that had to be solved by performing a special mission, crafting or trading. There were a lot of reasons why this element did not survive to the end: from creating unnecessary time pressure, to strong punishment of the player (e.g. by the death of a companion) and strong schematic problem-solving. Instead, we preferred to focus on more quality story missions than do half-hearted activities of this type.

The last thing is a would-be weapon in our arsenal: the slingshot. The idea was that the player had to craft different balls that would have different effects when hit. The most over-the-top idea ever! Probably, even if we had several times more programming and animation resources, we would not have made this element at a decent level.

Finally, we would like to remind you: Red Trees is available to everyone! Perfect for those who want to fully feel the autumn atmosphere.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016800/Chernobylite/

But this is not the end of surprises on our part! Season 3 is coming to your hands soon, and with it all new content!

That's it for today!

Take care, Stalkers!

Do you like Chernobylite? Give us a review.

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Sep 23, 2022

Weekly Report #142

Chernobylite Complete Edition - Pablo

Hello Stalkers!

In the next installment of our series, in which we present to you the profiles of our companions, we will take a look at the crazy - but somewhat less explosive than Mikhail - Sashko character.

We first meet Sashko in a mission, during which we are presented with a choice: upgrade our PDA or blow up Duga's radar. The entire meeting was planned by Tarakan, but carried out by Sashko, who was Tarakan’s protege at that time. Such a division made sense to us from the storytelling perspective, because we really wanted Tarakan to be this mysterious fella who doesn't come out of the shadows right away. Plus, it would be hard for a senior scientist to climb onto the radar and mine it, wouldn't it?

In our minds, Sashko was supposed to be a young, strong and capable "Cossack" - this is how in some parts of Poland we refer to people who are fearless, crazy and rarely think about the consequences of their actions. We also treated Sahsko's “Cossackness” literally in terms of the hairstyle or general appearance, inspired by real, historical Cossacks.

Sashko is a complete opposite of the protagonist in almost every way. To get to the power plant Igor constructs a strange machine, prepares a plan, hires mercenaries to help and politely obeys all their orders. Igor is a diplomat in many ways. Sashko, on the other hand, is running away from his past, at least part of it. He has his own moral compass that guides him, but more often than not, Sashko acts impulsively. Generally committed to constant play and risk, even though on a mission to find his brother, he chronically suffers from a lack of meaningful life goals. Many players identify with him because the vision of being completely free in an empty and deserted city full of danger seems very exciting.

With regards to the appearance of Sashko, we can distinguish three elements: the sporty look of the parkour (hence the light mask in which you can breathe freely), Cossack-patriotic elements (hairstyle, embroidered coat of arms of Ukraine on the T-shirt) and... ropes that contrary to appearances, were very important to us. Even before entering Early Access, we had a lot of metroidvania elements in the game (only the lockpicks and the Chernobylite burner remained, but more on that in one of the next reports). One of them was the system of ropes that the player was supposed to use for climbing and traversing, and which Sashko hung around the zone, making it his playground. The mechanics never made it into the final game, but the rope and its proper colors are still visible at Sashko's belt.

Before we conclude, we have very important information for you! If you like our game and the atmosphere of Chernobyl in general, be sure to check out this new project from our friends from polish studio Vimagineo :)

“Chernobyl Again” is an adventure game created for VR headsets that takes place in the 3D-scanned Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

If you want more info about it, check it out by yourself on this link.

That's it for today!

Take care, Stalkers!

Do you like Chernobylite? Give us a review.

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