Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
If we were to use the simplest of comparisons, we would say that Chernobylite resembles a large building made of many bricks. The bricks symbolize the elements that make up the game, such as graphics, music, 3D models, and also the less obvious ones like day and night mechanics and crafting. However, before these “bricks” were even created, we first had to have an idea for them. And we had to look for them.
Of course, the trips to Chernobyl and the experience with Get Even were quite important in laying the foundations for the new project. However, like any self-respecting game development company, we drew inspiration from many other sources. Including games. After all, we're all gamers.
We were looking for key references primarily in three main areas of the game: setting, story and survival. Let's start with the setting. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to make a game set in the very center of the Exclusion Zone, which we would be able to explore with our companions or compete with them. In this case, the most obvious associations fell on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - a game that popularized the word "stalker" and the image of Chernobyl as a gloomy place overrun by radioactive mutants and mercenaries. This atmospheric title was an important element in the search for an identity for Chernobylite, but not the only one. We also drew inspiration from the Metro series, from which we took some ideas (e.g., acquiring resources and crafting weapons and ammunition from them) and the Fallout series (exploring post-apocalyptic radioactive areas, interacting with the surrounding world).
In addition, there are also paranormal, terrifying phenomena and the fact that we are dealing with a place where time has stopped in the 80s. In this case, we looked to the Stranger Things series for a change, which was also very helpful when creating monsters in the Zone. You can read more about it in the material below.
In the case of history, it is easy to guess which game series we used. Just read this description: the main character ends up in a ghost town in search of a loved one. In this place he is tormented by memories and voices from the past, experiences paranoia, hallucinations, and sometimes he visits other dimensions. Sounds familiar? For many of you, it certainly is. After all, Silent Hill (especially the second part) is the best and most important game ever, and for us too. As fans, we finally had the opportunity to put into practice the lessons we learned from Akira Yamaoka's work years ago.
The last element, survival, was much more difficult. Over the years, a whole lot of games have been created for which survival is the core, but we were looking for something special. In Chernobylite we have the main character who must survive in an unfamiliar environment, with danger around him, and to make matters worse, he must provide for the companions he meets along the way, who also have their own goals to achieve. While looking for the perfect solution, we came across a game that is in line with what we wanted to achieve in Chernobylite. This War of Mine from our compatriots is very much focused on survival in the best sense of the word: it focuses on real problems, flesh and blood people, cooperation and resource management. You have to work both day and night to survive. It's not easy, but no one said it would be. In Chernobylite, you also have to work hard during the day to be able to take care of the health (physical and mental) of your companions at night.
You already know what games we used as references when creating Chernobylite. Of course, if we disassembled the game, there would be a few more titles that helped us better understand the mechanics we wanted to add to the game, and even expand them a bit. However, it was these productions that formed the real basis for us. And the result of this research and consideration is a unique game that you can play today.
In the next report we'll come back to one of these games again because we want to draw your attention to its… title. What does this have to do with Chernobylite? Find out in the next report :)
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
In the Zone, you can come across various people: from tourists, through its last living inhabitants, to stalkers hiding in the wild in these areas. We spent the most time in our game with this last group. Of course, we presented them in a slightly exaggerated form (we used our imaginations and pop cultural associations, we didn't meet any stalkers in Chernobyl) to fit the game's atmosphere.
You met three of them a week ago: three traders with their own history and the desire to earn money for various purposes. Today we will introduce you to the profiles of more characters. Unusual characters, lost in the literal, but also metaphorical sense.
Semyon Kuk (70) a demented guerrilla who roams the forests and swamps of Pripyat, hunting and setting traps for Nazis, Communists, invaders, occupiers and any other enemies he can imagine. Maybe it's the fault of those mushrooms he finds in the forest? He was a partisan of the Ukrainian Underground and mentally he still lives in the past. He believes that Hitler and Stalin conspired to create the NAR and monsters from another dimension to enslave the Ukrainian people. Semyon is truly delusional, but he is also very fit, extremely intelligent, and effective in combat for his age.
Yuriy Melnyk, locksmith. Yuryi and his twin brother Athanasius grew up in a church orphanage where they were abused by staff and colleagues alike. They had to fight for their own survival. Their lives of crime started very early, the duo becoming very skilled at pickpocketing and picking locks over time before they reached maturity. They began to travel around the country, living off petty crime, until someone told them that there were still many unclaimed riches in the abandoned city of Pripyat. They went there in search of treasures that would make them rich. Unfortunately, Athanasius disappeared one night and Yuriy has been looking for him ever since. 10 years have passed, the search yields no results. Yuriy still believes that he will find his brother alive and well.
Stepan Romaniuk, aka Hermit, is a former musician who left his hometown of Lviv after his wife died in childbirth and came to Pripyat. There he began to have visions of an innocent young woman in a red dress. He wonders if the Blessed Virgin Mary will somehow help him find peace. A quiet and humble person, but with a rich list of contacts that make him a valuable friend for everyone. Stalkers, traders, selfies, and even some NAR soldiers rely on him for food and information.
The zone attracts all kinds of people… The eccentric one you can meet only in Chernobylite.
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
Reading the subtitle of today's report you are probably thinking to yourself "these guys are out of ideas". However, if you know the history of Chernobyl and the Exclusion Zone, watch the materials on our YouTube channel, you probably know that the appearance of Evgeniy, Vladimir and Volodya is no coincidence.
We have said many times that what inspired us to create Chernobylite were the stories of the people living there. These are the elderly, most often the sick, who refused to leave their homes years ago. They live Exclusion Zone in small clusters, in houses that have not yet collapsed and are habitable. In fact, the life of samosiels became the direct reason why we created a village separated by a large fence on the Red Forest map, which we wrote about earlier.
However, if we had to point, we would say that the real inspiration for us came from stalkers - people who come to the Zone and simply live in it. In the wild and completely illegally. They come there because they want to have an adventure, out of curiosity, or simply to collect "souvenirs" from there and then sell them. It is obvious that if such an illegal stalker is caught, he will then be deported and pay a fine. Unless he's a repeat offender, in which case he'll get a bigger fine. But he certainly won't be shot at by the NAR.
Evgeniy, Vladimir and Volodya are just such stalker-traffickers. They came to the Zone for various reasons, but the most important one was the desire to make money.
Evgeniy Ilianov Popovich is part of Prypyat Bratva, a local Ukrainian drug trafficking gang that enjoyed a brief period of prosperity after the fall of the Soviet Union. Unemployment skyrocketed, and trafficking in illegal substances was a quick way to make money. The Exclusion Zone was a great place to hide labs and manufacture the product. All that changed when the NAR came along. Prypyat Bratva was disbanded, its members imprisoned or killed, leaving Evgeniy alone in the Zone.
Vladimir Rybakov, aka Vagabond, was one of the first to ride the wave of wild capitalism through the countries of the former USSR. Although he was brave, brash and had a talk like no other trader, skills necessary to succeed in this new world, he lacked the ability to plan and save money for future investments. Therefore, he never really became anything more than a comedian.
Volodya Andrukhovitch used to be a history teacher, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he decided to travel to various places that had fallen into ruin and help rebuild. By providing various goods at affordable prices, he contributes to rebuilding civilization in Pripyat. He is the only character who does not trade in Pripyat to fill his wallet, but to help others.
These three are not the only ones looking for experiences in Chernobyl. Stay tuned to this thread. In our next report, we will give you profiles of other "personalities" you will come across in the Zone.
We are gathering more material and information to share in the next reports with you. Get ready, there is a lot of valuable stuff waiting for publication ;) Of course, until then, we don't want to leave you with nothing. How about another batch of videos?
As you remember, at the end of last year we relaunched our YouTube channel. Since then, every week there has been plenty of videos devoted to Chernobyl and everything else related to this place and the events of three decades ago. There is no shortage of topics, because the more research we do, the more we learn things ourselves. And, of course, we share this knowledge with you.
Since our last post we have published a lot of new material on our YT channel. For example, here is one which explains how RBMK works.
We also continue our series concentrating on the HBO series “Chernobyl” and answer what was well-reproduced and what is an element of fiction.
We have also published the second part of a mini-documentary on the history of the Chernobyl disaster through the eyes of the liquidators.
From a historical point of view, we look at other events that happened just before the disaster...
...and we also try to answer the question of where the name "Chernobyl" came from in the first place.
And now a bit of science. We answer the age-old question that has fired the imagination of gamers around the world: do mutants walk around Chernobyl?
We also check what it is about those fungi mushrooms that would grow in the Zone and whether they pose a threat to humanity, as shown in the TV series and earlier in the game The Last of Us.
Hope you'll enjoy watching them :)
Before we finish, we have one more piece of information.
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
The genesis of Chernobylite is probably known to everyone. In a nutshell: a group of game developers from Poland went to Chernobyl to take scans of the whole place and decided it would make a good theme for a game. The end.
However, the real story behind the scenes of Chernobylite is a little different and much more interesting. So the time has come for you to learn it as well.
The fact is that we traveled to Chernobyl to collect materials in the form of photos, videos, and, of course, scans of various places in the Zone. However, we were not doing this for the game, but for... an educational software. Maybe some of you don't remember, but long before we released into Early Access a game about a man searching for a lost love from 30 years ago, we were working on two other projects: Get Even and the Chernobyl VR Project. The second one is an app that lets you take a virtual tour of Chernobyl and Pripyat. For us, this was a big thing. Firstly, because it was the first time we used the then-new technology of photogrammetry. And secondly, probably more obvious, was that for the first time we could go to a place about which legends have been created over the years. We could finally see with our own eyes whether radiation-induced mutants were running around the Exclusion Zone!
Spoiler: they weren’t :(
We had a lot of trips to Chernobyl. We collected so much material that we not only managed to recreate all the highlights of the Zone, but even use a significant part of the scans for Get Even. If you look closely, you'll see that some of the locations known from Chernobylite appeared earlier in Get Even, such as a fragment of a school in Pripyat or a bunker from Kopachi. This can be seen especially at the very beginning of the game.
We've mentioned this before, but it's worth mentioning again in this context: there are many more of these similarities between Get Even and Chernobylite (the look of the locations, the properties of Pandora and Ariadne, the dream scenes, etc.). This is because originally Chernobylite was going to be called Get Even 2. However, we eventually moved away from the atmosphere of an abandoned mental institution in favor of another historical location.
However, before any decisions were made about future projects, we still had the Chernobyl VR Project on our minds. We were very happy with this app. After all, it's not every day that an app allowing people to feel as if they were really in Chernobyl is created. We wanted to share the results of our work with the world. We traveled around the convents and showed people the app. They sit down on a chair, put on VR goggles, walk around Pripyat and ask... how to take out a gun. Seriously. There were plenty of similar questions: will a mutant jump out from around the corner? Can I use any weapons? Where are some NPCs?
The reviews of the Chernobyl VR Project let us know that there are people who want to have adventures in the Zone. Maybe this is some idea for a game that could be set at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. However, we couldn't just immediately throw ourselves into working on a new project without being sure that it would pan out. We needed solid confirmation of our assumption that a game about Chernobyl is what would move players. Some kind of sign.
Such a sign appeared. When we climbed one of the tallest buildings in Chernobyl and looked at the entire Zone from there. It was then that the words "it would be cool to make a game here" were said.
Spring is fast approaching us! On this occasion we have special offer for you will! Until March 23, Chernobylite: Enhanced Edition and all DLCs will be available for purchase for 50% off!
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
We started our next mini-series with the profile of General Kozlov. It was just a warm-up. Today we are serving you material of a much larger caliber. We will tell the story of the woman who started it all.
Tatyana Amalieva, 30, born in Murmansk. The fiancée of Igor Chymynuk, who worked with her at the Chernobyl power plant. She disappears on April 26, 1986, the day of the catastrophe, and after almost 30 years appears in Igor's dreams. Why? Has Igor gone mad and experience hallucinations, and Tatyana is one of them? Or is Tatyana alive and sending him a message from another world? Whatever it is, it is very effective - she lures Igor to Pripyat so that he can find answers to all of his questions. The inspiration of Silent Hill 2 is clearly visible here.
Tatyana is anything but a typical damsel in distress. Igor doesn’t try to rescue her from the master villain's hands, only to find out at the end that the princess is in another castle. Tatyana is a fully independent character who haunts Igor in his dreams. And she does it in two guises: one is ephemeral, caring and loving, and it bases her monologue on sentimental memories. The other is the anguished voice of terror coming from the real Tatyana, trapped somewhere between our world and… well, what?
It's hard to tell Tatyana's story without spoilers. Because, unlike Kozlov, this is not a small piece of history, but a powerful and very important plot element of the entire game. That's why we decided to approach her from a completely different angle. We will tell you how Tatyana was "created".
The role of Tatyana was played by our friend Joanna, a model and 2D artist. If you go to the board in Igor's room and look at scraps of newspapers, documents and photos - it's her work. The few who read the end credits know this. The vast majority, in turn, know her as a mysterious woman in a characteristic red dress who loves to play the violin. Although it wasn't obvious at first that it would look like this.
Traveling to Chernobyl was an opportunity for us not only to collect materials for the game, but also to look for inspiration. Being there, equipped with cameras and huge trunks full of clothes, we were looking for identities for key characters in the game. Thanks to this, you can find a lot of photos on our social media, e.g. Black Stalker wandering around Pripyat in full gear. And if you think that dressing a large man in a stalker outfit is a challenge, how about a walk in a dress in the open field at sub-zero temperatures?
Joanna remembers her trips to Chernobyl well, although working there was not easy. All photos had to be taken early in the morning when there is adequate light. It was necessary to get up early, put on a proper dress, put on make-up and with full equipment in the form of cameras and lamps go to the designated place. It is also worth mentioning that at this time of year (we went there between late autumn and early winter) temperatures rarely exceeded zero degrees Celsius. Joanna took off several layers of jackets for the photo session, and after that she quickly put them back on. It was so cold.
She talks more about her experience on site in the video below.
Before Tatyana appeared in the game in a distinctive red dress, the concepts for this character changed like a kaleidoscope. Each subsequent fitting of clothes and new make-ups are further attempts to find an answer to the question of who Tatyana is, or rather who she is supposed to be. You can see the effects of our experiments on the numerous photos and materials we took in Chernobyl. Tatyana in a wedding dress, Tatyana in a ballerina costume, Tatyana in a coat, Tatyana... as Alma from F.E.A.R.
Especially the last image of Tatyana impressed the tourists visiting the Zone. Not necessarily ina a positive way, because we scared them a bit too much and got yelled at by them. But hey, in the end it's all about the good effect.
The photos and videos we took were finally used in the game, as exemplified by the videos displayed on the projector or the photos scattered around the Zone. However, it was the red dress that turned out to be a real game changer. In this outfit, Tatyana is standing among the ruins of the former Chernobyl and playing a wistful melody on her beloved violin. This is exactly the picture we wanted: beautiful, even touching, but on the other hand filled with sadness after the loss. But after losing what? You'll have to find out for yourself.
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
Recently, we’ve presented you with profiles of Igor's closest companions and himself. So it's time to introduce you, dear reader, to the characters who remain in the background during the game, but are equally important to the story and world of Chernobylite.
Vladimir Kozlov is a complicated person. He and his brothers joined the Soviet army in 1986 when he was 16 years old. A year later, he was a member of a platoon stationed in Afghanistan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he continued his career in the newly formed Russian army, becoming one of the youngest generals in history. His brothers died during the war in Chechnya. Instead of retiring, he decided to work as head of security for the secret organization called NAR, where he introduced military rigor.
On one hand, Kozlov is an old-fashioned soldier, faithful to duty, devoted to the army and a hard worker. On the other hand he’s hated and adored by his subordinates in equal measure. He expects a meticulous approach to his duties. In fact, he treats every aspect of his life as a task to be performed and is proud of his achievements. In short, he's the stiff type who is there to follow and give orders. He is very ambitious, and at the same time he lacks compassion and understanding of human weaknesses. This flaw is actually a strength as it makes it easier for Kozlov to make morally questionable decisions.
But Kozlov also has a different side. Much gentler, reserved only for the only surviving family member...
We would like to tell you a bit more about Kozlov from the developers' side, but it's hard to share this knowledge without avoiding spoilers. Therefore, if you haven't played the game yet - do it and then come back here 🙂 Otherwise, you’re welcome to keep reading.
Kozlov originated in our minds as a generically evil character; a ruthless general carrying out nasty orders, whose main role was really to keep the secret behind the entire NAR operation and obscure the identity of the game's REAL antagonist. We wanted him to look like a bad guy, but somewhere inside he wasn't. Hence the plot twist involving two key characters in the game.
The recurring theme in Chernobylite’s story is lies. People lie and try to take advantage of you. You lie and try to survive. Kozlov is in the middle of it all; he is a pawn on a chessboard that can have a significant impact if the game is played wisely by the protagonist.
As you will soon find out, Kozlov is not the only complicated character in Chernobylite. We will discover them together one by one with each new report.
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
Chernobylite not only entertains, but also teaches. You know that before we started working on the game, we had to conduct a massive research. We went through a lot of photos and videos, and had numerous conversations with people knowledgeable about Chernobyl. We also turned to literature for some hard facts and numbers.
We were relying on literature practically all the time, even in the middle of the production. We used various facts from books as references to hidden curiosities in the game. You got to encounter such a reference during a chat with Mikhail. He recollects about his conversation with a strange acquaintance about Moscow's sewers - it was a reference to the book "Strange Telescopes" by Daniel Kalder. And there’s more of that in our game if you pay attention. Today we will share with you the titles of books that helped us a lot, but also should be an addition to the library of anyone interested in the subject of Chernobyl.
"Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster" by Svetlana Alexievich
A reporter's novel from the Nobel Prize winner. Alexievich interviewed more than 500 eyewitnesses over 10 years, including firefighters, liquidators, politicians, doctors, physicists and ordinary citizens. The book recounts the psychological and personal tragedy of the Chernobyl disaster and explores the experiences of individuals and the impact of the disaster on their lives.
"Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters" by Kate Brown
A book about the Cold War era written from a completely different angle. Drawing on official documents and dozens of interviews, Brown describes the stories of Richland, Washington, and Russian Ozersk - the first cities in the world where plutonium was produced. Wanting to hide their secrets, American and Soviet leaders created the eponymous plutopias - communities of nuclear families living in highly subsidized, nuclear cities. In his book, Brown outlines the environmental and social impact of these places on the residents and the surrounding environment.
"Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future" by Kate Brown
Another book from this author. Brown pulls together all the mistakes made by politicians and bureaucrats in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and their attempts to shrug off responsibility for future consequences. She also adds, among other things, the unwillingness of international diplomats and scientists affiliated with the nuclear industry to explain the causes and consequences of the 1986 event. Decades of research in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, and the same mistakes made by Japanese politicians after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, have proven that we learned nothing.
"Chernobyl Liquidators. The Unknown Story" by Pawel Sekula
Documents, films and photos are not everything. History is also eyewitness to an event. The book is a record of the oral history of Chernobyl liquidators and their families, as well as their personal experiences, feelings and reflections from being called to the site of the tragedy, to working in the shadow of the Chernobyl reactor, to struggling with the daily reality of the USSR after returning home. If you want to get to know the community of liquidators, learn about their living conditions and daily life, this book is a must-have item.
"Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe" by Serhii Plokhy
Another detailed (about 500 pages) record of the Chernobyl disaster site. Plokhy writes the story of the event from the perspective of those who were right in the middle of the incident. It chronicles the collapse of Soviet nuclear power and the Soviet state itself.
"Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster" by Adam Higginbotham
Higginbotham, through numerous interviews with witnesses, as well as access to declassified files and previously unpublished memoirs, presents the unknown story of Chernobyl. He writes about the establishment of the power plant, the lives of the inhabitants of Pripyat, the absurdities of the USSR, the course of the tragedy and its aftermath, and the behind-the-scenes propaganda efforts. It reads like a thriller novel.
"Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter" by Igor Kostin
Igor Kostin flew over the power plant on April 26, 1986 just hours after all hell broke loose there. The only photo he managed to take at the time went around the world. Kostin inextricably linked his fate with that of Chernobyl. Shocked by the magnitude of the event, the reporter stayed on the spot to observe the evacuation, talking to people who came into contact with radioactive waste (most of them later died). His book is a remarkable testimony to the disaster, written and photographed by a witness and participant. It contains many unique photographs.
And that's it. We think it's good to take a break from the screen sometimes and grab a good book. So all that remains is to wish you a pleasant reading!
Before we get to the report, a quick announcement!
We invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we will regularly publish videos dedicated not only to Chernobylite, but everything related to it.
Hello Stalkers!
A few months ago we had a plan to introduce you more closely to the profiles of Igor's companions, and in such a way that you won't see in the game. Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control, we had to suspend the series for a while. Today we are back, because we have another, equally important character to introduce to you.
She is the guardian of the Red Forest. She's tough-minded, direct, honest to a fault, very, very stubborn and fearless. Once she makes a decision, it is very difficult to convince her to change her mind. This is Olga Astapienia, who, together with her stepfather, leads a small group of samosels who bravely fend off attacks by NAR mercenaries.
It is true that the cast of Chernobylite consists overwhelmingly of men. However, contrary to what you can see in the game, from the very beginning we planned to add a female character to the game (not counting Tatyana, who is the driving force behind the whole story). We wanted to show the samosiels as resourceful people who can live in difficult conditions. And their leader should be a strong person whose family went through some hard time in Chernobyl and, like them, decides to stay in these lands and help others. At first, Olga was looked upon with distrust. After all, she is a woman and a stranger from a big city - what can she know about the art of survival? It turns out that she knows quite a lot.
Raised among men, tomboyish, direct, with an almost soldierly manner. She is not an overly gentle girl. Olga meets all the requirements of a leader, although she has never defined herself as such. People follow her and have full confidence in her skills and intentions. She is completely dedicated to her mission and has no time for anything or anyone else. The exception to this rule is her husband Kostek and father Matviey - both of whom she loves very much.
As with the other companions, the character of Olga was also modeled on characters known from history and pop culture: Erin Brockovich, Michonne (Walking Dead), Ruby (Cold Mountain), Black Mamba (Kill Bill), Ellen Ripley (Alien), Furiosa (Mad Max), Trinity (Matrix), Sarah Connor (Terminator).
And that's it! We have completed the presentation of the whole merry bunch. But this is not the end - after all, in addition to the main characters, there are also the supporting ones, equally important to the story in Chernobylite. So expect more entries in the near future.