We have never hidden the fact that when creating Chernobylite, we were inspired by games, movies and TV series. We wrote about it a few weeks ago. So if you haven't had a chance to read this material yet, we encourage you to do so 🙂

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3700313061239297399?l=english

Today we would like to spend some time with one game in particular. To be more specific, it's not about the game itself, but about its... title.

Although the well-known title of the GSC World game is in fact an acronym that reads "Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers and Robbers" (this is how all people residing illegally in the Zone are defined), for the players it has become a single word; a synonym for someone with a hood and a backpack, sometimes with a gas mask on the face, who roams the Zone in search of loot. Stalkers are also present in our game. We even gave the main antagonist the appropriate nickname, Black Stalker. But where does this word come from anyway? We took a closer look at this matter. It turns out that the matter is not as obvious as it seems.



If you look at the timeline, you can see that the word "stalker" has come a long way from being born. And contrary to appearances, it was not created in the heads of designers from GSCW. This word appeared, for example, in the film "Stalker" by Andrei Tarkovsky from 1979. The main protagonist, the titular Stalker, earns his living by guiding people through the Zone, an area where the laws of physics do not work the same as in the rest of the world. The zone was created as a result of an unknown event 20 years before the action of the film.



The description of the character is somewhat at odds with the image of the Stalker shown in the book "Roadside Picnic" by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, the book the film was based on. While in the film the stalker was a person who showed curiousity around a forbidden place, in the book we deal with people who illegally take various items from the Zone and sell them profitably on the black market. Sounds familiar?

There’s just one thing that you have to remember: the background of the story in Chernobylite and similar titles is a disaster at a nuclear power plant, not the arrival of aliens, as was the case in the book.



To make it even more interesting, we will say that the authors of "Roadside Picnic" did not create the word "stalker" just out of nowhere. Their favorite childhood book came to the rescue: “Stalky & Co” by Rudyard Kipling's (1899). Its main character, Arthur Lionel Corkran, was nicknamed "Stalky". "Stalky" in the school vocabulary means someone clever, prudent and cunning, and Corkran was just such a person. Well, stalkers staying in the Zone must be cunning and cunning in order not to be caught by the services.



Let's go even further into the past. Here we move seamlessly from cultural references to linguistics. The words "stalk" and "stalking" were already present in many Indo-European languages. Their spelling and pronunciation may differ, but they are similar in meaning. And we go all the way to 1424, where the word "stalker" was probably used for the first time. Specifically, it is in the Stockholm legislation, which defines a deer poacher in this way.

What you have read is just a shortened version of the "stalker" story. If you are interested, we invite you to watch the video on our channel, in which we look at this issue in much more detail.



Finally, a short preview of what awaits us in the near future. Next week we will return to topics strictly related to Chernobylite. We've managed to collect some materials over the last few weeks, so there will certainly be plenty of topics. Be with us next week, we'll show you some drawings ;)

Take care, Stalkers!




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As you may have noticed, we took a short break, so there was no report last week. But it's not because we ran out of inspiration or materials that we would like to show you (we have a lot of them, so don’t worry). Rather, because we were getting ready for an important day.

37 years ago, a tragic event took place in Chernobyl, which resonated widely around the world and the effects are still being felt. Today, it provides food for historians, scientists and urbex enthusiasts, as well as fans of pop culture, in which Chernobyl also left its mark.

This place is especially close to us, because it is where the idea for Chernobylite was born. A story about searching for a lost loved one, a desire to survive, alliances, betrayals, paranormal phenomena - all these elements and much more can be found in our game. However, what is most important to us is that with Chernobylite we give players the opportunity to explore the Exclusion Zone.

We want as many people as possible to see this place as it really is. That's why we've launched a special sale where Chernobylite: Enhanced Edition and all DLC are available for purchase at 55% off. More details can be found in the text below:



But our activities are not limited only to the game. We also share our passion on our social media. Including our YouTube channel, where small but significant changes took place a few months ago. Since then, not only videos related strictly to the game (e.g. behind the scenes) appear on the channel, but also interesting documentaries on topics related to Chernobyl.

And if you don't have enough videos about Chernobyl, check out our TikTok channel, where we provide knowledge about this place (and not only) in a much condensed form. It's modest for now, but believe us, we have ideas for more.



We hope you like what we do for you. Stay with us, in the next report we return to the world of Chernobylite to present it again from a side you don't know.

Take care, Stalkers!




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Construction of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant began in the 1970s. The first reactor was commissioned in 1977, and by 1983 four of the six planned reactors were operational.

April 26, 1986. On that day, an experiment was carried out in the refurbished unit no. 4. The duration of the experiment was planned only for a minute. However, when the test began at exactly 1:23 a.m., it led to a chain reaction that resulted in the destruction of the anti-radiation dome and the building of the fourth block. An uneven race against time has begun. Every minute of delay meant further spread of radioactive substances. Dozens of fire brigades were sent to the site, and over a hundred firefighters put out the fire. The entire local population was evacuated - first within a radius of 10 km from the crash site, in the following days it was extended to 30 km. Pripyat overnight became a "ghost town". The effects of this catastrophe are felt to this day.

37 years have passed since these events. A whole lot of publications have been written about what happened in Chernobyl during this time - historical and scientific articles, reports, analyses. Over the years, the story of Chernobyl has also penetrated into pop culture. The Exclusion Zone aroused the imagination of people who learned about this place from movies, TV series and even video games.

The Farm 51 team also had the opportunity to visit the Exclusion Zone many times, and the materials collected from this place (thousands of photos, hundreds of hours of recorded videos and countless with local residents) were used to create the Chernobyl VR Project and, of course, Chernobylite. Over the years, we've been sharing this content with our community on Steam and on our YouTube channel. One such example are videos comparing real-life places with their virtual counterparts.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1016800/announcements/detail/2981928041998541762
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1016800/announcements/detail/2981928042027375970
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1016800/announcements/detail/2983057384609610019

Chernobyl is a special place for us, just like Chernobylite is a special game. Thanks to it, players can not only experience the adventure, but also visit the Exclusion Zone and see it for what it is. We want as many people as possible to have this opportunity. On this occasion, we have prepared a surprise for all players.


The promotional price will include:

• Chernobylite: Enhanced Edition
  
• Autumn Dread DLC
  
• Blue Flames DLC
  
• Deadly Frost DLC
  
• Red Trees DLC
  
• White Rose DLC
  
• Zone Bard DLC
  
• Bundle Charity Pack
  
• Soundtrack
  
• The Art of Chernobylite

So if you haven't had a chance to play Chernobylite so far, now is the best time!

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.



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.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/5639086788836370509


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 :)

Take care, Stalkers!




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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.

Take care, Stalkers!




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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.



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.

Take care, Stalkers!




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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.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3620362751711309971

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.


If you can't get enough of our original content about Chernobylite and Chernobyl, scan the code below to start watching us.



Take care, Stalkers!




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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.



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.

You already know the rest of the story.



Take care, Stalkers!




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Stalkers!

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!

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

And here’s a list of all DLCs for the game:

• Autumn Dread
  
• Blue Flames
  
• Deadly Frost
  
• Red Trees
  
• White Rose
  
• Zone Bard
  
• Bundle Charity Pack
  
• Soundtrack
  
• The Art of Chernobylite

So if you haven't had a chance to play Chernobylite so far, now is the best time!

There's still more content to come. Check out the roadmap here.




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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.



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.



Take care, Stalkers!




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