Chernobylite Complete Edition News

In light of the recent events in Ukraine, we wanted to express our deepest sympathies and solidarity with the victims of this conflict as well as all Ukrainians. We believe that wars belong in the realm of video games, not in real life. Nobody should be scared for their life, family or home. The situation is dramatic, and we can only hope that peace will come soon.

For years we’ve been traveling to Ukraine and met a lot of amazing people there. During the development of our game, we became very close to Ukrainians, their history and culture. The dreadful act of aggression towards our neighbor that we’ve been witnessing since last week simply broke our hearts. We couldn’t just stand aside and watch so we decided to do something that matters and not to leave our friends all by themselves. We hope you join us!

In this perilous time everyone should help as much as they can to support Ukraine and its people. Apart from voicing your support, there are other ways to help the victims suffering from war atrocities.



[h3]Income from the sale of the game for the Ukrainian Red Cross[/h3]
We decided to donate the weekly income from Chernobylite sales to the Ukrainian Red Cross to help the victims of the conflict. This goes for both PC (Steam, Gog, Epic Games Store) and consoles.

The charity sales takes place until Sunday, March 6.

[h3]Fundraising for charity[/h3]
Currently, there are many fundraising campaigns for charity. Look around in your immediate area to see which institutions can provide support. We also encourage you to follow the links below and make a donation for the good cause:

Polish Humanitarian Action Ukrainian Red Cross

[h3]Donations for those in need[/h3]
There are many charities and fundraising activities that you can get involved with. You can help, even from far away, for example by collecting donations that will be sent abroad to Ukraine. The Ukrainian citizens may soon be facing a catastrophic humanitarian situation due to the limited access to medical aid and lack of running water in besieged cities. That’s why it’s important to get involved now and do whatever humanly possible to support them. Every little helps. Let's show our solidarity together. Every action counts. Even the smallest one.

Chernobylite Team

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
Without further ado, we invite you to read the third and final episode of the series, in which we share with you the backstage of creating the music in Chernobylite. We would like to thank Mikołaj Stroiński for his contribution to our entries so far. At the same time, we would like to welcome Krzysztof Chalusiak, our friend, sound designer and composer, who will talk about the process of creating songs for some famous missions in the game.

Old Documents

A mission in which we make our way through small underground corridors to get important documents from Tarakan's closet. As Krzysztof explains, when writing music for this mission, he wanted to emphasize its claustrophobic nature:

“The first of these songs starts playing as soon as Igor enters the underground complex. The composition is based on interpenetrating, stretched sounds of synthesizers that dynamically change their sound and pitch. The delicate, yet strongly processed percussion accents enrich the texture of the piece. Operating synthesizers on several layers allowed me to build a sense of constant movement and change. This effectively builds a mood of uncertainty and emphasizes the mysterious atmosphere of the underground complex”.



“We get to hear the second track when Igor triggers the Tarakan trap. The pulse of this composition is much more concrete and systematic. The piece is based on bass sounds that set the rhythm for the composition. These are supported by arpeggiator, dynamically changing the harmonic and sonic values ​​that rise and fall, emphasizing the tension accompanying Igor. Additionally, the players can still hear some sounds from the previous composition playing in the background. That was deliberate. It allowed me to successfully keep the coherence of both tracks and to progress from one sound to the next one in a natural way”.

Mikhail In Trouble

What kind of music is best to illustrate the rescue mission of our slightly unhinged companion? Well, one with a hint of psychedelia. After all, during this mission Igor ends up in a building filled with a strange gas, which most likely caused Mikhail to hallucinate.

“In the first composition, which starts playing as soon as Igor descends to the ground floor of the building, I only used a few synthesizers because I wanted to emphasize the dynamism of the second song. The first composition is based on an undulating, blurry synthesizer and its sound evolves over a very long period of time. Together with the synthesizer, there are strongly voiced percussion sounds that emerge from time to time".



“The second composition uses a wider palette of colors and it’s easy to see that a lot more is happening there. There are more synthesizers in this track and although it continues the ideas from the previous composition, I also added some new sounds and textures. I wanted the player to experience the music progression when advancing the mission. The second composition begins in a dramatic moment when Igor damages his gas mask.”

Difficult Truth

As Krzysztof explains, composing this piece was quite an interesting challenge. Without revealing too much of the plot, this piece was about emphasizing the character of… a particular location. What is it and where is it located? You have to discover it for yourself!



“The foundation of the piece are misty synthesizer sounds that intertwine with one another, generating a slow pulse. Their ambivalent color and harmonic composition create an aura of mystery and correspond well with the character of the place. By adding short, rhythmic sounds, I wanted to make the piece more dynamic. By making it digital, I emphasized the technological aspect of the place discovered by Igor”.

Old Hideout

For this particular mission, it was crucial to focus on the stage where Igor was about to unravel the mystery of Tarakan. The accompanying piece at this point has a clear, perceptible pulse that reflects the feeling of tension experienced by the protagonist.

by Fritz Fantom

“The foundation of the composition is based on the rhythm built up by several synthesizer bass sounds and processed recordings of falling clock hands” - Krzysztof explains - “the layers of these sounds interpenetrate one another, maintaining a specific pulse. In addition to shorter bass sounds, the piece is characterized by synthesizers with longer, resonating motifs. Their sound dynamically changes timbre, which effectively harmonizes with the sense of unease built up by short bass splashes”.

That's it. We hope you learned something interesting. We especially hope that this insight will encourage people who would like to create music for games in the future. Let us know in the comments if you would like to read more similar material in the future.

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

[h3]Will you join us? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.[/h3]



[h3]Follow our official channels to stay up to date:[/h3]
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016800/Chernobylite/

Stalkers! We’re happy to share that Chernobylite has passed Valve’s review and will be available on Steam Deck, launching on February 25.

Enter the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone anywhere.

[h3]Will you join us? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.[/h3]



[h3]Follow our official channels to stay up to date:[/h3]
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

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

[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
A few weeks ago, we showed you some pictures of the newly created map, which will be introduced in one of the next DLCs. This is the map showing the distinctive looking cooling towers of units 5 and 6 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. We visited those locations personally to get the reference materials, as you can see in the post below.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3123809822937640079

A bit has changed since then and we decided that it was worth showing to what extent.
This isn’t just idle talk: previously you could only see the outline of the board; a skeleton on which its next elements were just applied. Today, we can say that the map began taking some shape.



Obviously, there is still a lot of work ahead of us, but we can already say that the results are satisfactory. We hope you think so too.

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

[h3]Will you join us? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.[/h3]



[h3]Follow our official channels to stay up to date:[/h3]
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

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

[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!

[h3]Will you join us? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.[/h3]



[h3]Follow our official channels to stay up to date:[/h3]
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

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