Chernobylite Complete Edition News

Weekly Report #110

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Two weeks ago, we introduced you to the first part of our Chernobylite music series.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3118181596900049384

You enjoyed the material and this makes us very happy. Today, as promised, we present to you the second installment of the series. This time we looked at exploratory melodies, characteristic of the locations visited by Chernobylite’s protagonist - Igor. Again, we give the floor to composer Mikołaj Stroiński, but also to Sound Designer Krzysztof Chalusiak from our studio, who contributed significantly to the creation of the soundtrack.

Moscow Eye

This piece was probably the most complex. Mikołaj wanted to give it - as he says - a specific energy; something that captures the pace between pauses and movements. "There aren't too many sudden changes and intense pulse in the music” - says Mikołaj - “because the world in the game is very addictive and beautifully made. So I didn't want the player to rush, but to get to know this world, admire it and think about it. Of course, the ‘Moscow Eye’ has a pulse. Its goal, after all, is to gently push the character forward and support the development of the plot."

In short: the idea was for the player to admire the world created in the game, and not just to rush ahead with a weapon in their hand. By analyzing the screenshots and recordings of the game that players created, we came to the conclusion that this kind of relaxed exploration of the Zone was thoroughly enjoyed. And the music supports that.

Okay, but what does this music actually sound like? ”The song contains electronic and synthetic sounds, because such sounds can be associated with the Chernobyl disaster and the resulting radioactive pollution” - Mikołaj explains - “Hence, the severity of sounds, which I combined with a developed sound-design as my personal artistic choice, to which I was inspired by the game and the history it contains. The minor chords emphasize the hopelessness and the hardships awaiting the player."

Kopachi Village

While the Moscow Eye is mostly filled with buildings and various structures made of concrete and metal, Kopachi is quite the opposite. How to convey the atmosphere of a place where we’re surrounded mainly by trees and rocks with music? According to Mikołaj, the piece he composed in the first part contains a lot of free space to capture a feeling of longing and loneliness. It was crucial.

"The sounds are in a way similar to those in ‘Moscow Eye’ music - says Mikołaj - “for the reasons mentioned above. There are some extra sounds that create uncertainty and a state that I would call the ‘fear suburb’. After all, Chernobylite is a horror game, and apart from situations where the player is supposed to be very afraid, there are also instances in which he should at least feel uncomfortable. As with the songs above, I used acoustic guitar sounds to ensure the continuity of the soundtrack."

Bad Feeling

The second exploration track for Kopachi and also much darker. Mikołaj explains that in this case, the sound-design and harmony are intended to deprive the player of all hope, emotionally putting him in a state of madness and fear.

“Hence, for example, the repetitive sandy sound of the synthesizer and the greater harmony chromatics - including the emphasis on the major seventh interval” - says Mikołaj - “The pulse is fairly slow, because the in-game situations in which ‘Bad Feeling’ occurs are not intended to make the player panic or motivate him to run."

Pripyat Residential

Pripyat Residential is the newest location that we added to the game quite recently in the "Ghost Town" update. Our composer and sound designer, Krzysztof Chalusiak, wanted exploratory music to create a sense of communing with Pripyat, in which there are still some secret places and things to discover. It was about capturing the feeling of the space of an abandoned city, a city that speaks to you in its own, mysterious language.

“I chose to use the ethereal sounds of synthesizers because they capture the atmosphere of the abandoned concrete blocks of the city of Pripyat” - says Krzysztof - “The varied timbres of the synthesizers build closer and further planes of the composition, thus constituting the foundation of the whole. Apart from the misty synthesizers, I used themes based on short percussion sounds that added dynamism to the composition and diversified its texture. The additional filtering through a clear echo emphasized the ambivalent atmosphere of this location. Keeping the composition in the higher register was a deliberate measure, I didn’t want the piece to overwhelm the player. At the same time, the transition from a lighter composition to a track more focused on bass tones makes a much greater impression."

This was the second episode of our Chernobylite music series. The third and last one will be released in two weeks. It’s going to be a fresh batch of insights and information. It’s worth the wait, we promise.

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

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Weekly Report #109

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Crossbow - a weapon that uses elasticity to fire special arrows. The invention was used in antiquity - in Mediterranean countries from the 4th century BC. (the long reload time meant that it was not considered an effective weapon, except for sieges), and in China probably as early as the 5th century BC.

About 200 C.E. the Chinese army had 50,000 crossbowmen who fought with mass-produced bronze crossbows. Of course, the crossbow was constantly being improved. For example, the Chinese army used an automatic crossbow (it fired 20 arrows in 15 seconds) as a defensive weapon on the Great Wall of China.

But why are we talking about all this? Because we are preparing a surprise for you in the next DLC we are preparing. A dozen or so reports ago, we showed you the graphics of a crafting table.

We asked you what can be produced on this table. There were different answers, but among them, only one was correct:

Yes! We have a new weapon for you in the upcoming DLC - a fast-firing and extremely quiet crossbow! Thanks to it, you will be able to silently kill your opponent while sitting in the bushes.

The crossbow is still in production and tested, but we can already say that it looks great, and has a good feeling when firing.

Although we still need to improve it, especially in terms of the power of the shot. Because recently it turned out that by accident we created the most powerful weapon in the world.

We also need to work on the accuracy…

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

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Weekly Report #108

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Soon after the full version of Chernobylite was released, we were surprised to see that many of your opinions about the game specifically mentioned the soundtrack. You praised it a lot, above all for its excellent rendering with the atmospheric sounds of the desolate Chernobyl Zone. At the same time, we started receiving questions about whether the game soundtrack would be made available sometimes in the future. Today we’re able to fulfill this wish: the soundtrack is available for purchase on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1847400/Chernobylite_Soundtrack/

However, we decided that it was definitely not enough to throw a soundtrack for you and nothing else. That is why we wanted to share something completely new and special: an insight into how the key musical themes for Chernobylite were created. And who would be more qualified to tell you about this process than the composer himself, Mikołaj Stroiński? Let’s dive right in.

Preludes to the Darkness

This is the theme you can hear right at the base. Delicate guitar strings calm us down and help us focus, build and plan Igor’s next moves. What’s interesting, Mikołaj had the pleasure to compose four pieces for an acoustic guitar for this particular part of Chernobylite.

"The need came more from the outside: players were attached to the so-called temporary music (from Early Access - perm.), which was based on an acoustic guitar. I never intended to treat this situation as an obstacle - quite the opposite. A composition for a solo instrument requires a responsible composer who can use the sounds of a given instrument as widely as possible. In such cases, my goal is usually to compose something musically interesting without distracting the player." Mikołaj also admitted that after creating these four songs, he subsequently had to use the guitar sounds in many other places in the game to ensure the coherence of the soundtrack.

Tatyana Theme

Chernobylite wouldn’t be Chernobylite without Tatyana and her trademark instrument - the violin. Both this, and the fact that the violin sounds were used in Early Access, meant that Tatyana's theme had to be composed for this instrument.

”This theme is divided into 5 short phrases that can be played in any order while keeping the musical sense” - says Mikołaj - “Tatyana appears randomly in the game and if she played the same phrase every time, it could seem trivial and quickly get boring. It is worth noting that the phrases have been composed in such a way that they always match any exploratory music playing in the background at the same time. As for the melody composition itself - to help stand out from the background of exploratory music, Tatyana's theme is built on broad musical intervals hence drawing attention to itself. The default harmony under the melody would be based on a simple relationship between the tonic and the dominant, which corresponds to the harmony of simple Russian songs."

Heist, start

More specifically, it's about the end-game theme, when Igor and his crew try to get to the power plant for the second time. As Mikołaj says, he had composed a piece consisting of four stems up to this point. Stems are groups of tracks ripped together into one file, such as, for example, all the drums, guitar, bass and vocal parts. They all loop in the game engine, but turn on and off in various combinations, depending on the moment of the game and the size of the space the player is currently in.

”So in the beginning, when the player traverses the forest and moves along the railroad cars, it is a fairly open space and three layers are “playing". When he enters the car and the situation of concentration occurs, the number of layers is reduced to two. After killing (or bypassing) the enemy soldiers, you exit into a very open area of the yard and the game engine turns on all layers, which also emphasizes the success of defeating the enemy. Around the yard, we face the task of opening the electric lock and the optics return to a more focused one. This is followed by another limitation of the reproduced layers of the work”.

Final Walk Amongst the Fractals

Igor's last visit to the fractal world required creating the right atmosphere. Mikołaj admits that in order to achieve the intended goal, he spent a lot of time programming and preparing appropriate sounds.

”Due to the fact that the world of fractals is a kind of afterlife, beyond time and full of unbridled energy, I started by creating sounds to support this energy - very intense, but set in a background, which gave it depth. For example, I recorded audio files and reversed them so that they would play backwards with high intensity. The imposition of a quick ostinato on the synthesizer has become the basis for a harmony that communicates a summary of the events contained in the game's plot and something great, unattainable and uncontrolled. The melody on the strings and the "howling organic sound" tells about the longing for another human being, but in a timeless, not intimate way, reflected in the fractal world. I gave the piece a broad "Hollywood" sound with adequate music production."

Hope you enjoyed the first part of the musical tour of Chernobylite. In the next installment, we will tell you more about the music accompanying the visits to some other locations.

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

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Save 20% on Chernobylite before February 3!

With the Lunar New Year upon us, the year of the tiger is on the prowl. Luckily, you won’t have to deal with any supernatural tigers in the Zone, there are enough monsters as it is. It’s best you hunt them before they hunt you.

Do just that by taking advantage of Steam’s Lunar New Year sale before February 3 and save 20% on Chernobylite today!

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Chernobylite snags two New Game Network 2021 awards!

Chernobylite won Best Atmosphere in New Game Network’s Game of the Year 2021! In addition, it also won runner-up in the Best RPG category. We’re thrilled that Chernobylite continues to gather praise for the faithfully reproduced, hyper-realistic environment and immersive experience it has to offer!

Have you experienced the Zone for yourself yet?

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