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Chernobylite Complete Edition News

Weekly Report #191

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Do you remember this photo?



This is a model of the building of the "Energetyk" Cultural Center that was based on scans of a building actually existing in the center of Pripyat. We used our drone to scan it from all sides and angles (yes, also from above).



You may notice that the project does not look finished in the photo above and indeed at this stage it was still in raw state. During the process of photogrammetric reconstruction of the building, "noise" appeared, which was caught by our device while scanning the object, and which is the result of, for example, inappropriate lighting. This is quite a normal thing. Therefore, a few more steps had to be taken, e.g. manually eliminating the major "noise" and other defects.



How long did the entire operation take?

It was a lengthy process. Transferring and processing materials collected in the field and then converting it into a game object takes a particularly long time. We're talking about terabytes of data here!



And remember that it was just one building. There were plenty of others next in line to be processed and transferred to Chernobylite.



So you can imagine how much time it all took, including any corrections. The computers were working at full power. Some even had too much, so we had to use specialized and modern alternative cooling methods.



In this manner, after multiple years of visiting Chernobyl, we succeeded in identifying and subsequently mapping the most captivating locations within the Chernobyl area.



When we examine the footage from those visits and the three-dimensional models generated from them, it becomes challenging to distinguish between the authentic and computer-generated elements.



Can you tell which is which?

We also used this method to scan small objects that we found in the Zone. But more about that next time.



[h3]That's it for today![/h3]
Take care, Stalkers!



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Weekly Report #190

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Since the beginning of our adventure with Chernobylite, we have been providing you with glimpses from behind the scenes of our game development process. The Early Access phase was particularly interesting. Back then, almost every report included photos and videos showing the slow process of creating even the smallest elements in the game. Including:

Character models…



…and items…



…rooms…



...and also animations.



It's time to piece together all the scattered components, incorporating materials you probably haven't seen before, and assembling them like a puzzle. In this way, we want to show you exactly the differences (or maybe similarities?) between Chernobylite, the game, and Chernobylite in reality.

We'll start with something lighter and less overt. As you well know, our trips to Chernobyl allowed us to scan this place and transfer it almost unchanged to the game. We say "almost" because some locations in the game were our own creation, and the recorded materials served as references in this case.

One of the most notable places crafted from scratch is our base. In the gifs below you can see that we walked around closed rooms made of iron and concrete, where we discovered an abundance of junk and machine parts scattered on the floor. The perfect place to hide from danger.



With a touch of dedication and hard work, you can transform it into a nice place to live. At least for a while.



We also managed to find the perfect place with a view of the Zone. We couldn't refuse to use it in Chernobylite.



The subsequent GIFs perfectly illustrate what we mentioned at the beginning - how the video materials collected on site were employed to create similar locations in the spirit of the atmosphere we wanted to achieve in Chernobylite.



Though we must confess, there were locations where we couldn’t bring ourselves to make any substantial changes. At most, just decorative ones.



Consider this report as a sneak peek. In upcoming updates we will show you, among others: the Chernobyl scanning process - from the smallest objects to the largest ones - and their visualization on a computer. Get ready, because we have some exciting content to show you.

[h3]That's it for today![/h3]
Take care, Stalkers!



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Weekly Report #189

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
We devoted a lot of space in the reports to the characters appearing in Chernobylite: from the most important ones to ordinary NPCs. However, looking into our box of surprises, we noticed that we hadn’t told you about one more, probably the most important hero of Chernobylite - chernobylite crystals itself. And in this case there is an interesting fact worth mentioning.

Did you know that in the original plans, chernobylite crystals were to be available in the game in two colors?



According to the original plans, we were planning to implement good (green) and bad (red) chernobylite crystals. According to a rather sophisticated gameplay concept we developed, the use or presence of appropriate crystals in specific places would have an impact on the environment and, of course, the course of the plot, either positively or negatively.



Today, only a few people who worked on Chernobylite remember this feature. So we are dealing with one of the first gameplay elements to be released in the game.

However, as is often the case with initial ideas, this one did not stand the test of time. Although the theme of good and bad crystals looked good on paper, the project was still evolving, with new and - in our opinion - much better ideas that would make the gameplay more attractive. Maybe we will come back to this theme in the future. It would be a pity to let it go to waste.

[h3]That's it for today![/h3]
Take care, Stalkers!



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Weekly Report #188

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Creating costumes for characters is more than draping a shirt over a back, putting on tattered pants, and affixing anything you can get your hands on to a jacket and calling them "decorations." Sometimes there is a whole philosophy behind such actions!

Take Sashko for example. In one of the previous reports we described his outfit: the sporty appearance of a parkour competitor, which consists of a light, airy shirt and a light mask suitable for free breathing, Cossack-patriotic elements (hairstyle, embroidered coat of arms of Ukraine on t-shirt) and ropes used for swinging in the Zone. It took us a lot of time to select clothes and accessories, not to mention finding the right materials and scanning them into the game. All this to emphasize his nature as a freelancer.



However, the real challenge was the Black Stalker. It's not visible at first glance, but if you look closely, you can see how many elements his outfit consists of.

The basic outfit of the Black Stalker mostly consists of the simplest elements that we had in our resources, such as a camouflage jacket and trousers and trekking shoes. The mask, on the other hand, was our own creation. We didn't want to give Stalker a regular gas mask because he would lose that dark vibe. That's why we decided to create our own version of the Black Stalker mask. We used a hockey mask with attached elements of an old gas mask and... washing machine parts.



The effect exceeded our wildest expectations. The design of the costume was so good that we used it many times during the photo session in the Zone.



But that's not the end of the work. Thanks to our graphic designer's concept sketches, we were able to plan further elements of the Black Stalker's outfit and even slightly modify it. For example, the hood has been extended to cover most of the Stalker's head; the mask itself looks more realistic and coherent, unlike its actual DIY model, and its colors refer to chernobylite crystals. Numerous patches, scarves, stitches, dirt and scratches have been added to the jacket and trousers, giving a heavily worn effect, and the shoes have been replaced with a more military model. We also added some other pieces of equipment, such as a knife sheath attached to the backpack strap and an additional bag attached on the right leg. We also took care of a small detail: instead of regular gloves, the Black Stalker has gloves with cut off fingers. Stalker's fingers themselves are black, indicating frostbite.



Someone might say that it was enough to just scan the model in the Black Stalker outfit. However, only thanks to the computer refinement of this character, we managed to achieve the desired effect, which is realism - here is a man who has been living in the Zone for years, so he cannot look as if he just came out of a clothes store.

Anyway, it's not our place to judge. We'll ask you what you think about it: do you like the character of Black Stalker as we presented him in the game? Let us know in the comments!



[h3]That's it for today![/h3]
Take care, Stalkers!



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