You have already seen what Igor and Tatyana looked like in our imaginations. If you haven't had a chance to see them yet, below are links to the previous reports.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3720581795021808291
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3664288067562838729

Today we're going to take a look at some supporting characters. Contrary to appearances, creating them was as big a challenge as in the case of the main characters. Take our buddy Olivier as an example.



Olivier was planned almost from the beginning as a character with a military background who mastered the art of survival in his little finger. He acquired all his knowledge while serving in the Canadian army. That's why Olivier's outfit was "tailored" with his professional background in mind.

The first sketches showed Olivier wearing a Canadian army beret (without the emblem, which he said he was not worthy of) and a flannel shirt (as befits a Canadian!). Additionally, he had a mandatory gas mask on the belt and a dog tag around the neck. And of course, Olivier's characteristic element could not be missing - a sling made of some old sheet.



Over time, of course, Olivier's outfit design evolved to what we know in the game. But in the meantime, we also tested other variants of his outfit, e.g. Olivier as a military dodger, Olivier as a tanker and... Olivier as a real Canadian citizen. Seriously, in addition to the trapper hat, we were planning to give him a bear fur coat. :D



In the end, we managed to find a consensus for Olivier’s appearance: the experienced ex-commando was dressed in the outfit of a warlord for hire. Interestingly, this is the only character that is hidden under a cape. Does that mean he has something to hide? Who knows…



Take care, Stalkers!




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The fractal world was one of the most exciting projects we've worked on. Just imagine: you're creating a bridge between the real world and a location where time and place don't exist. We have devoted two reports to this topic. In the first one, we presented what the original ideas for what function would the fractal world play in the game. The very concept of walking inside a large sphere still makes us dizzy to this day.

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

In the second report, we presented where the idea for the fractal world came from and how it evolved over the years (e.g. we used some of the solutions earlier in Get Even).

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3642879484778982379

Today we return to this topic again. This time we want to show you the first attempts at turning our ideas into reality. We put down the results of the brainstorming on paper. The result are conceptual sketches of something that was supposed to appear in our game soon.

Crystals were the priority. Not only were they basis of the fractal world, but basically of the entire game - chernobylite crystals can be found almost everywhere, not to mention that almost the entire story of Chernobylite revolves around crystals. Only at a later stage of project were we able to combine them in such a way that they formed part of a larger architecture.






As you can see in the above image, we wanted to create something like corridors in huge caves, straight out of a fantasy novel. Over time, the design of the crystal corridors has undergone modifications: sometimes we gave the player more space, other times we locked them in tight corridors.






For a long time we couldn't decide on the final look of the short corridor. But in the end, we made a compromise that you could see in the game in Early Access: a short corridor where we walked on a chernobylite footbridge, and above our heads there was an open space with a view of hundreds, thousands of chernobylite blocks. Of course, that too has changed a lot. But that's another story ;)




Take care, Stalkers!




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

Even though the Summer Sale is over and summer is just getting warming up (literally!), we don't stop! Especially for fans of Chernobylite and for new players, we are starting another summer sale!


But that's not all: in our promotion you will also find Chernobyl VR Project at a lower price - an educational project from which our adventure with Chernobyl began.

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
  
• Chernobyl VR Project

Join us and let the summer last!

After the last report on the concept art of the Shadows - the ancestors of the Borderers - we noticed that you were very interested in this topic. Which is not surprising, because - in general - the topic of monsters in games and how the ideas for them evolved during the development of any games, have always enjoyed great interest. So we thought it was worth taking the topic a bit further.

Short summary: before the Chernobylite monsters were created, the first prototype of the monster was inspired by "shadows" that would come out of the walls and attack the unsuspecting stalker. An interesting idea, but we had to reject it due to technical reasons.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3649652637281378404

At this point, we must strongly emphasize that we were one step away from putting this idea into practice. Before the Shadows evolved into the Borderers you have met, we had the opportunity to test them a bit: we drew their variations on the background of corridors in buildings. This way, we wanted to see if these creatures would be able to scare someone, especially indoors.

We had lots of fun with it. We started gently, by creating Shadows with a human silhouette…




... and then let your imagination run wild. And so it began: demons, titans, flying bats, faint streaks gradually creeping out of the wall. There were plenty of ideas on how to present Shadows to the players.







We even reached for the classic elements of horror: ghosts signaling an attempt to get out into our world by stretching their arms towards the player.



Our imagination knew no bounds, but reality finally caught up with us anyway. We would gladly come back to this idea. Who knows, maybe someday…

Take care, Stalkers!




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We know very well that you are waiting for the next, last DLC for Chernobylite - Black Smoke. Questions about new content for the game multiplied more and more and grew stronger the closer it got to the planned release. Unfortunately, our plans have changed a lot over the last few months, which made the development of the DLC longer. Plus, there are other issues related to… something we can't tell you about. Yet. But it'll probably be worth the wait.

Nevertheless, we are forced to postpone the release of the DLC. When will Black Smoke finally get to the game? The date has not yet been set by us, but trust us, you will find out about it in due time.

As for the owners of the game for consoles - don’t be afraid, we haven't abandoned you. We will also deliver the outstanding DLC as promised. In this case we will also inform you about the premiere in a separate message.

Whether heat or storms, sun or rain - any weather and time of day is good to spend your summer holidays with Chernobylite!


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

Join us today and see if you can survive your fears...

In the process of sorting out materials from the early days of Chernobylite development, we came across some that we had almost forgotten about. They are fascinating, and they relate to a rather crucial moment of production: we were thinking about what the creatures scaring players in the Zone should look like. That's why today we're setting aside the main characters for a moment and focusing on those who attack players by surprise.

Only a year ago we mentioned that before Chernohosts, Borderers and Dusters were created, the first prototype of the monster was inspired by "shadows" drawn in the form of graffiti on the walls of buildings. These shadows were supposed to come to life, come out of the walls, and attack when the player didn't expect it. It was perfect and fit the vibe of the whole game.

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

Initially, we wanted these apparitions to take human forms.




Over time, there were also ideas for the shadows to change their shapes, for example, into monsters with long and knife-sharp fingers.



But as we mentioned, the idea wasn’t working out from the start, mainly for technical reasons. However, instead of abandoning the idea entirely, we decided to evolve it. We wondered what would happen if instead of fighting an actual shadow, the player would fight a physical representation of it. The effect of these considerations was a complete change in the philosophy of the gameplay. The name “shadows” remains only as a common name for all monsters born as a result of chernobylite crystals.

One of its representatives is the Borderer - the first of the kind of a new group of monsters designed in the later phase of Chernobylite's development.






The shadows were just the outline of an idea that in the end didn't make it into the game. But who knows, maybe we'll come back to this concept in the future ;)

Take care, Stalkers!




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Tatyana is not your typical damsel in distress. She is a fully independent character who haunts Igor in his dreams. But who she really is? An apparition? A hallucination? Igor's conscience? Or maybe a being from another dimension in human form? Whoever she is, we know one thing: she was one of the most fascinating characters we had to create.




Believe it or not, the concept of Tatyana as a mysterious ghost-lady in a red dress (colors changed over time) appeared in our heads much later than you might imagine. When we sat down to plan the game's plot and character development, we assumed at a very early stage that Tatyana had survived the Chernobyl disaster. Not only that, but she was also meant to establish cooperation with the NAR and conduct research for them on chernobylite and all phenomena produced after the explosion of the power plant. This was also intended to be the reason why Tatyana did not want to be found by Igor.

All of this, of course, had an impact on Tatyana's appearance. In the initial concept sketches, we depicted her as a woman in her 50s (assuming she survived the crash and was close in age to Igor) and dressed as a scientist.



The idea was... okay. Just okay. In the end, we gave up on it and decided to go in the direction of the concept of an apparition appearing in dreams. We found this idea much more enticing and appropriate for a horror game than any spy themes. There are also technical arguments: animating Tatyana's face during any dialogue would be more expensive than animating all the other characters and their animations combined. Not to mention that having her wear a face mask would completely undermine the emotional impact we wanted to deliver in the game.

Finally, one more curiosity. A demonic version of Tatyana, which was partly created by accident and partly by the graphic artist's creativity. It's a very cool effect that hasn't been used in the game. A real shame.



Take care, Stalkers!




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Summer is fast approaching. For many of you, this means holidays, more time to relax and have fun. And of course, playing video games ;)


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!

For now, we will set aside graphics from various locations around Chernobyl, but not forever! We'll revisit them later to show you how everything was originally supposed to look in the game. Today, as promised, we’ll take a closer look at the first concept art of the main characters of Chernobylite. Let's start with our main character.

We’ve covered Igor extensively in one of the reports from last year, when we showed his profile in more detail. Below you will find a link to the material.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3396294721353039208?l=english

In that report you had the unique opportunity to see the concept sketches, based on which the final version of Igor's appearance was created: in a stalker outfit, in a hood and with a gas mask covering his face.



However, it must be admitted that working on Igor's appearance was not easy. There were numerous ideas on how he should present himself to the players. These ideas were translated into numerous concept sketches, showcasing Igor in various situations: wearing a jacket, a coat, camouflage, with and without a hood. Even Igor's face underwent constant changes, with different versions featuring or without glasses, with a beard resembling Walter White or Gordon Freeman, or even longer










There was even an option for Igor without hair!



There were a lot of combinations, but in the end a consensus was reached. This is where the power of concept art lies: to be able to transfer all our ideas about a given element of the game on paper, and then be able to choose the best features and combine them into one.

Although, the example of Tatyana shows that even the most promising idea can end up in the trash. But more about that next week!

Take care, Stalkers!




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