Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone News

• We have significantly optimized CPU performance in many areas. This should reduce stuttering and increase FPS for players whose CPU was a bottleneck. However, please keep in mind that stuttering from PSO Caching (the well-known hitches in many UE games when visiting a location for the first time) is something we are still working on.
  
• Now, users of AMD FSR can also use frame generation. The scaler itself should also work slightly more optimally.
  

• After defeating one of the ultra bosses (a faction-wide quest), the NPC in the fractal world should no longer occasionally fall below the level. We've also fixed a similar issue where the player themselves could fall below the level.
  
• We've fixed an engine crash that frequently occurred for users with AMD GPUs (mainly RX 570/580, but it could also appear occasionally on others). This crash most often happened during cutscenes and dialogues but could also occur in other situations. Let us know if it's improved!
  
• We have fixed the music in the scientists' base, which could get stuck.
  
• During the quest "TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN," the exploration music should now play correctly.
  
• During dialogues and cutscenes, the Main Hero's hair should now appear correctly - meaning significantly better.
  
• The companions in the base should no longer be sinking into the ground. If anyone experiences this again, please make sure to let us know on the bug subforum.
  
• The "Learn to cook" skill should now function properly every time.
  
• Using the "Glitch" skill should no longer cause FPS drops. We've also fixed the training itself.
  
• We've fixed the item that allows for the restoration of Planewalker's shells. It should now revive dead shells every time.
  
• During "Survival of the Fittest," if you move too far away from Luka, Chernohosts will no longer be able to permanently kill him.
  
• Now all items collected during a co-op mission should correctly return with the player to their world.
  
• Projectiles fired by Chernohosts should now be properly visible on lower graphics settings.
  
• When using frame generation, full-screen UI (inventory, skills, etc.) should no longer break or have transparency issues.
  
• Human enemies should no longer spawn with weapons floating around their heads.
  

[h2]Hi Chornobyl explorers,[/h2]

It's already been a week since we launched Early Access and started collecting feedback on the overall game from our community worldwide.

[h3]What did you like as the game highlights?[/h3]
💚 Open world, its atmosphere and its exploration.
💚 Amount of activities you can take within a game.
💚 Variety of gameplay mechanics, combat, and customization options.
💚 Interesting story premise and different conversation options.
💚 Switchable first-person and third-person perspectives.

The above is an excellent message because it's exactly how we wanted Chernobylite 2 to be perceived. The only reasonable comment for this is that we plan to keep working to improve this aspects wherever they can be improved. But we also thank you a lot for all your words of appreciation and heartwarming notes you're sending to us to let us know that you enjoy our vision and the direction of the project. High five! 💚

[h3]What you didn't like especially?[/h3]
☢️ Optimization issues, lack of balance in certain aspects, and bugs.
☢️ Lack of proper language text localization (machine translation) and occasionally used AI-generated voices.
☢️ The fact that co-op missions are limited only to specific areas of the game and not available all the time.

This deserves more attention here because these are the areas we need to address with top priorities.

First, each point falls into a different category of things that can be evaluated from the perspective of what can be done and when.

We have to admit with complete openness: only the first of these things - optimization, balance issues and bugs - was fully expected by us, for a relatively simple reason: we have been testing the game for a long time, both internally and externally, and we are pretty aware of how much work remains in the area of optimization and bug fixing. Here, Early Access was primarily intended to help us collect additional data on the frequency of various technical glitches and their annoyance, which we want to translate into prioritizing the tasks of fixing these inconveniences. In this regard, our activities are proceeding according to plan so far - we have already published the first hotfix, which addressed some of the most significant glitches suitable for correction in recent days, and we plan to publish more hotfixes in the coming days.

The following two aspects - language localization and dialogue recordings - address flaws that we knew about but whose importance we underestimated from the point of view of Early Access reception and directly translate into changes in our priorities for the near future.

In short, we are preparing a major update to the game, in which we will solve the issues of text localization and voice recordings of actors. We are currently in the process of both translating the entire game text by human translators working with us, as well as recording with real actors and implementing those lines of dialogue that, for various reasons, we did not manage to insert into the game before the launch of Early Access. We estimate that this work will take no more than a few weeks, and we are preparing to publish it along with the first mega-patch, which, in any case, was scheduled for April. With this patch, in April, we'll reveal the roadmap of the Early Access with all milestones we're planning to deliver to you, not only fixes and improvements but also new content, features, and extra surprises.

Last but not least is the matter of co-op scope and availability in the game. This is where we need to do a deeper evaluation of your opinions and comments, as our game is a heavily story-driven game based on similar narrative assumptions as Chernobylite 1, and there is no easy way to shift the emphasis toward cooperative play without demolishing other design assumptions. We will certainly continue to listen to your feedback on all aspects of the cooperative missions and explore the possibility of a different exposition and development of them. Still, we must ask for your patience in this regard, as any changes in this area would inherently affect all other aspects of the game. We certainly don't want to spoil anything you think is well-conceived and executed so far.

Of course, there's much more to the details of your feedback—we're reading all of your comments, reviews, and messages carefully. We'll update you on the progress and next steps here, on Steam, and on our social media channels.

Don't forget that you can still publish your in-game screenshots in our Virtual Photography contest and win cool prizes, or if you simply like enjoying nice pictures, take a look on our Community Hub to see what others have already published.


[hr][/hr][h2]We're working on our new game! Add it to your wishlist![/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2075100/Chernobylite_2_Exclusion_Zone/

Hello Chornobyl explorers,

Ready for another challenge?

The artbook for Chernobylite 2 is already in production, and in addition to all the cool content we will include there from our side, we'd love to honor you, our backers and players, on its pages. We want to select the 10 best community screenshots made in the Early Access build and place them in the printed version of the artbook.



We're starting the Virtual Photography contest. If you share your screenshot from Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone on our Steam Community Hub, the best screen chosen by our team will be awarded a physical Black Stalker 3-in-1 mask and a physical artbook from Chernobylite 2 (as soon as they're printed—by the end of this year). For the second and third prizes, we'll deliver a physical artbook, too.
In total, 10 best screenshots will be added to the Chernobylite 2 artbook with credits to their creators. We will also post them separately on our social media channels, crediting you as a virtual photographer. All 10 screenshots will be awarded with Digital Arbook anyway. The deadline for sending the screenshots is Sunday, March 16th, at 6 PM CET.

Just to remind you how the Black Stalker 3-in-1 mask looks like:



There's also a short video showing the mask production process:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]So, how do you get a chance to grab these cool rewards?[/h2]
All you have to do is select the best moment of your playthrough in Chernobylite 2, take a screenshot by pressing F12, and share it to our Community Hub as a Public screen so everybody can see it.

But to let you get more crazy with your creativity, we've just added a Photo Mode to Chernobylite 2. With a hotfix patch released this weekend, you can use the new functionality to take virtual photos of anything interesting in the game in more ways than just getting a printscreen. Photo Mode is a function that allows you to set up camera position, screen post-processing, and add filters to your photo - the same way as real photographers do.

[h2]How to use it?[/h2]
1. During gameplay, press ESC, go to the Settings menu, and select Photo Mode:



2. You can play with camera settings using options available on screen—adjust colors, focus, and add filters. As long as you are in Photo Mode, you can freely fly the virtual camera around the scene with your mouse and keyboard, so you can show your subject from any perspective.



3. When you're satisfied with your scene look, you can either save a photo on your disk (press F) or create a photo prepared for Steam Community Hub by pressing H to hide the Photo Mode UI and then pressing F12 to take a Steam-ready screenshot.



4. In the Steam app, you can see the screenshot collection from your game—choose your virtual photo and click the Share on Steam command, then change the Visibility of your picture to Public and press Upload (you can also add caption text to the screenshot).



5. Now everybody can see your photography masterpiece in our Community Hub among the artwork from other players!



You don't have to use Photo Mode, anyway. It's up to you how you create the screenshot. The only limitation is that it has to be in-game screen and posted publicly on Steam.

Go to the Community Hub and see what others have already shared. To give you a few inspirations, check some of the artwork that has already been uploaded.

If you have any questions about the contest, leave your comment below!

Chernobylite 2 is our dream project. After more than 10 years of various activities related to Chornobyl and dozens of visits to this place, we can finally share the massive part of what we consider the ultimate Chornobyl experience. What started with VR documentaries and low-scale indie projects has become a fully-fledged RPG game, playable in the open world, with hundreds of ways to craft your own character and story.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Entering the world of Chernobylite 2, even in Early Access, you can expect to double or triple the time spent with the first game - not just because the Zone itself is about 20 times bigger this time but also thanks to the number of quests, events, encounters, and gameplay mechanics. On top of it, you can play from two different perspectives - first person or third person - which is possible thanks to the success of our recently finished Kickstarter campaign.



Our goal was to deliver the Early Access version, which is very advanced and polished in most parts. According to many closed playtests and our demo reception, most of the gameplay mechanics and big chunks of the content are already polished. Early Access contains about 30-40% of the final scope of the world and story. Most weapons and players' equipment parts are already present in the game as lootable elements.



We believe that Chernobylite 2, similar to the first Chernobylite, will be a much better game, thanks to its development in Early Access. We saw already that constant feedback from our community allows us to adapt our vision to players' needs, and for a big RPG game, the number of adjustments we can make this way is huge. We estimate the game will stay in Early Access for 6-10 months. This is the time required to let your feedback influence a project of this scale and to validate together changes made during Early Access.

Also, remember to follow us on our social media (likes, comments, and shares for greater reach are welcome!), and we encourage you to join us on Discord.


[hr][/hr][h2]We're working on our new game! Add it to your wishlist![/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2075100/Chernobylite_2_Exclusion_Zone/