Hey stalkers!
We've just finished the Ask Me Anything session on our fresh-launched Discord server. If you're into free chats with other Chernobylite fans, join us here:
https://discord.gg/mehRmzY
Below is the transcription of the chat with Wojciech Pazdur, the Creative Director of Chernobylite. We hope you'll find at least some of the answers helpful.
Sorry for typos and language/grammar mistakes - it's a raw copy of real-time conversation.
Q: I saw in a videogameplay that the character gain exp doing stuff, there will be a level progression with skill/stats?
A: not that much oriented to skill/stats as in RPG games, more for surviving (managing resources) and overall character and team development. But some skills will be gained.
Q: Is it possible that we can visit the heart ("big foot" too why not) of the accidental nuclear reactor of Chernobyl in the game ?
A: Yes, this is why we run Kickstarter - to re-create as big part of Nuclear Power Plant as possible
Q: Will there be a large selection of weapons and usable items in the in-game world?
A: There will be some, but it's more survival than RPG, so not that many.
Q: Will there be throwing knives in the game for stealthy players?
A: Not planned.
Q: about the KS, howl ong do we have to up our backup to a higher pack? will it end when the funding goal is reached or is there a specific date set?
A: you can pledge until the end of campaign on 11th of May - regardless of when we reach the goal
Q: I see in the pre alpha footage that the dialogue is in Russian is that going to be the only language
A: we plan other languages, but besides Russian, Ukrainian and English we can't confirm more voices (however there will be subtitles for others)
Q: Can you give us any idea of the system requirements at this point
A:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016800/Chernobylite/
Q: Will there be varied missions like stealth, sniper , vehicle for example
A: there's a lot of missions, but so far we don't plan sniper and vehicles. They're
oriented on survival and exploration, sometimes combat.
Q: After you have finished the main plot of the game , will you be able to roam around the wasteland and have side quests, random encounters, killing mutants etc?
A: Yes
Q: Will there be mod support at one point? I'd be very interested in creating modifications similarly to Fallout 4's experience :smiley:
A: Unreal Engine 4 is not very well suited for modding, but after we finish the main game development, we'll try to dig into this.
Q: How will you use extra money from kickstarter?
A: Mostly to expand the game world (Nuclear Power Plant, bigger Pripyat). We also have some stretch goals, but let's wait until the main goal is reached.
Q: What updates have been made to the environmental lighting since the demo that was sent to content creators?
A: We're constantly updating the lighting set up, quality and optimization. Even today it's better than few days ago.
Q: If Chernobylite will be playable in multiplayers, how it should happening (coop as example) ?
A: So far no multiplayer is planned, at least until we get very popular with single player.
Q: Can you customize weapons in Chernobylite?
A: We have plan to develop this feature, but it's not done yet.
Q: Will there be more than one type of the "warp monsters" that are in the demo?
A: There will be some crazy enemies, of course we didn't want to disclose all the ideas in the demo.
Q: Will i be able to praise the lord and saviour of russia, Tachanka?
A: Who knows....
Q: Will AI of soldiers and monsters stay like it was on demo or You gonna change it?
A: AI is the biggest thing to keep polishing during the whole development. We're constantly improving it and what you saw is just a prototype.
Q: There is any chance to see in the future the game translate in french language ?
A: Most likely yes
Q: Would you consider Chernobylite to be a spiritual successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series? or was it just one of the inspirations?
A: We are not trying to copy anything from STALKER, but naturally it's giving the same vibes to the people because of subject, perspective, mood and so on. STALKER games were some inspirations, but we'd rather try to make the overall game a complementary, not competitionary vision.
Q: Since there will be NPCs, will you implement some quests or stories to discover during exploration ?
A: Yes, this is one of the main features of the game.
Q: Will this be a completed game at launch or are you planning future content?
A: We'd like to expand the game as long as players are willing to play it and grab the updates.
Q: Will console commands be available? For example in COD you can do /noclip /god /cg_draw_gun = 0 | things like that. Noclip would be great to capture cinematics.
A: It's possible, but not decided yet.
Q: How long is the estimated gameplay of the main story?
A: It'll depend on the scale of success of Kickstarter. But the game will be definitely long comparing to average single player experience.
Q: Will there be early access on Xbox
A: Didn't decide yet. We're doing first tests on consoles but not sure if we'll push it for Early Access there.
Q: Is the soundtrack finished now, who are the composers behind it and do you plan on making an official release later?
A: We didn't even start to work on the final soundtrack, it's too early. But we have few very good composers in talks.
Q: Will Chernobylite have Artifact items just like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series?
A: We don't call them "artifacts" but there are some special items, including the "chernobylite" which is a real, but very dangerous substance.
Q: What kind of game modes can we expect in the game? Is it just the story mode?
A: We think about endless survival mode too, as well as about "real Chernobyl story" mode (without sci-fi elements, just to explore the world of Chernobyl and learn the story of catastrophe as it really was).
Q: Will there be DLCs?
A: No decision yet. We'd prefer to keep expanding the game with naturally appearing patches and updates.
Q: how much does expanding the base affect gameplay?
A: It gives you and your teammates the resources for surviving, as well as provide the increase of stats like morale, stamina and so on.
Q: Is the game more like an open world exploration or main story campaign ? Any side mission?
A: The story is a main point, but you can explore every location many time and free-roam openly in a huge areas. We want to make a lot of side missions.
Q: Where did the inspiration for your game come from?
A: First it was about real Chernobyl story, then games like Fallout, Silent Hill 2, This War of Mine, STALKER, Metro and many others.
Q: Whether the game will support gamepads?
A: We already support gamepads.
Q: How big is map/maps?
A: We're still expanding them, but they're already very big. So far we didn't decide yet where to stop. :smiley:
Q: That time limit is necessary if yes why?
A: It's needed for several reasons, some of them we want to keep in secret, but the more obvious is to remind you of limited time to finish the game.
Q: Can at least one NPC say "cheeki-breeki" in this game? It's an old stalker tradition and a very important part of the Zone's culture.
A: It seems it's unavoidable...
Q: are you planing on hiring more people for project if kickstarter is sucessfull?
A: Likely yes, but we won't grow big because we want to keep working as a small, dedicated indie-team
Q: What platforms will it be on? And when Is the the expected release date?
A: PC is the first platform to be released, but we already design console versions. We can't guarantee any release dates for consoles, but we do really want to be on all major platforms. Steam ETA is autumn 2019
Q: What will the map from the Kickstarter rewards look like
A: It'll be a printed map of the Zone with many real places and some extra things that exist only in our game.
Q: Will I be able to kill any unique character in the game? What will happen if I do
A: Not necessarily any, but in many cases it'll be your choice. Then your story and game progression may change a lot.
Q: Why did you stroke the dog next to the Moscow Eye? I've seen this on the photo in one of the kickstarter update emails. I thought you can't touch there anything :stuck_out_tongue:
A: He's our friend and we're the same radioactive as he is, so no difference who touches who.
Q: Why early acces, will there be full story at the beggining or You gonna ad most of the important quest etc later, at full release?
A: The final decision on scale of Early Access will depend on how far we'll go with Kickstarter. We want Early Access to provide people with huge part of the game and gather feedback how to shape it before the final release.
Q: 1.) Will Chernobylite have secret Laboratories similar to Laboratory X-16 or X-18 in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series?
2.) Will Chernobylite have anomalies?
A: Let's keep it a secret. But you saw the trailer, right...? :smiley:
Q: How important will be to furtiture the hideout? Will there be many options of stuff that you can build?
A: There's a lot of items to build and they're important for you and your companions physical and mental health.
Q: will there be factions of some sort within the zone with unique elements to them or are you just a solo wanderer in the zone?
A: There will be characters and groups with different goals and it's player strategy how to deal with them.
Q: Will there be leveling your character like in Fallout?
A: Not exactly like in Fallout, but some character stats and skills will be developed during the game.
Q: Will there be options to explore/scavenge in areas without the time limit, it would be really neat to just roam around an area untill you get bored instead of always having to do a mission.
A: It's possible we'll have such an option, but most likely not within the main story.
Q: When you finish the game how will the game continue?
A: We have some plans for the endless mode, but still a lot to be figured out.
Q: Will I get the game after full release if I buy it in early access?
A: Yes.
Q: How come you guys went with Kickstarter instead of pitching Chernobylite to investors and/or publishers?
A: Because we like our community a bit more than corporations. Still, publisher or investor involvement is possible, but later. First we want to do as much as we want by direct relation with players.
Q: How hard the game will be? I have bad experience with Thronebreaker which is so easy I just stopped playing.
A: Today it seems game won't be easy. But we didn't even start the balancing
Q: What is the purpose of this abstract green diamond location before every game?
A: It's a chernobylite crystal tunnel, very specific way of travelling between the different places in the real world.
Q: Will be the difference in price between the game in earlyaccess and the full version?
A: It's likely we'll increase the price after Early Access. People who trusted us in advance would be better rewarded then.
Q: After final premire do you plan to make regular updates with new locations and content i.e. like winter or summer update? or at least once a year?
A: As long as players are willing to play, we want to deliver new content. No timing plan for this, we'll try to find the optimal schedule later.
Q: Will you be able to smoke, drink, eat with an animation?
A: It's still under discussion. So far we're eating and drinking without the animation.
Q: How many days will I survive in the game without food or drink?
A: Not many, as in the real life.
Q: Will the characters get more varied gas masks, seeing all the dudes in the demo with the same mask was kinda weird
A: Yes, we wanted to add more even to the demo, but the faces didn't squeeze properly and we need to fix them :smiley:
Q: will there be chillzone's within the zone like stalker had these small campfires with people playing their guitars? Those where always a 2 min chillspot to just enjoy the view
A: Something like this will happen for sure. But we have also some other ideas to give you this feeling (save it for later)
Q: Will there be a wide variety of enemies/monsters/mutants?
A: Enough to keep you surprised many times, but our game is not focused on variety of monsters.
Q: If kickstarter get a huge success your dev team didn't expect (300.000$ or more why not), it's possible to increase a lot the game duration with secondary missions ?
A: That's the natural way: if we get more money, we'll make bigger locations, then we'll add more events and missions.
Q: Now this game will have a branching narrative from what I hear, how vastly different can it get really? Will it be very significantly different or maybe only 3-4 different varieties of endings?
A: The branching in story is not only about the ending, it'll show up also a lot during the game progression. We don't want to spoil anything about the endings yet.
Q: Will the Boxed edition come with a physical disc as well?
A: For now we plan to give the Steam keys inside the boxed editions, but it may change if we'll have distributors in some regions or if there'll be boxed console version
Q: Will there be makeshift weapons in the game similar to the Metro Exodus?
A: We'll have some original gadgets and weapons too, but we don't want to copy anything directly from Metro or any other game.
Q: What guns would be availible?
A: We don't want to reveal full list yet, but it'll be more survival weapon kit than one-man-army weapon kit.
Q: There will be sone kind of hunt mission with monster boss?
A: THere will be some crazy and powerful monsters, but we'd rather keep their details in secret.
Q: How will Chernobyoite differ from the Stalker or the Metro Series. Obviously it's more survival Horror concentrated but what will it do that metro and Stalker do not?
A: We're mostly focused on survival and story and we place our game in the real Chernobyl 3D-scanned Zone.
Q: Are you planning to reuse WW3 gunplay? If so to what extent?
A: Some elements will be re-used, but overall pacing and flow in story driven survival horror has to be very different from tactical military multiplayer
Q: What are the stretch goals for Kickstarter?
A: We'll reveal them when we reach the main goal or when we're very close (it seems very soon)
Q: How accurate is the entire map compared to the real life location?
A: The real-life level design sucks. We re-organize positions of many objects to give players better experience, trying to keep the structure and feeling of original place as much as we can.
Q: If I choose the kickstarter option "You in the game" how much time it takes to scan me?
A: You'll need to spend several hours (roughly one day with some breaks) in our office.
Q: How dense/populated are the maps in the game? The PAX level was pretty packed so I'm wondering if other areas would have larger stretches of empty land to balance things out.
A: There's different density of stuff on different locations. Some (like Pripyat city) will be packed with objects, some (like forest around Kopachi kindergarten) will be much more unpopulated and slow-paced
Q: Will you be able to craft rad pills or chemical stuff? or you have to look for it in the world?
A: You'll craft a lot, but sometimes you'll find them also in the world.
Q: Does Chernobylite has any changes because of STALKER ? P.S. Guys you are doing really great! Good luck with project!
A: Stalker is one of our strong inspirations, but we don't try to copy anything out of it.
Q: Will there be exoskeleton suits of some sort similar to what S.T.A.L.K.E.R has?
A: Most likely not.
Q: Will the game have an npc saying "50 thousand people used to live here! Now now its a ghost town"? lol but seriously cant wait for this.
A: We'll try to make even more haunting one-liner if only our writing skills allow.
Q: Will you be able to modify your weapons and closes+armor like in Fallout?
A: There will be some modifications for the gear, altough to keep it real we don't plan the powerful armors like in Fallout.
Q: Will there be different ways to do missions, like take different routes? or are you more focusing on taking a more linear route in the story campaign?
A: Definitely yes. So far most of the missions are very non-linear.
Q: Crafting system: Do I need a scheme or can I create things using trials and errors (or both)?
A: So far you craft using learnt recipes.
Q: How intertwined are the systems? For example if I go around shooting every enemy I see and hurt my morality (and increasing troop presence) would that also tie into the relationships with my allies at base?
A: Yes, your decisions (especially on moral things like killing or helping others) will affect your relationship with other characters.
Q: Will the game have the most beloved unscripted events that the S T.A.L.K.E.R. series was known for? Random bandits, random mutants, anomolies, random run ins with the black stalker? No scripted events?
A: Our big goal is a randomization of events in gameplay, however for storytelling needs some of them have to be scripted.
Q: During chatting with npc do you plan to make some expanded conversation based on key word used by player but not so simple like - hi/yes/buy.
A: Most of conversations are mix of story and gameplay subjects, they're very custom.
Q: How do you folks stay safe visiting so much?
A: We follow the procedures of staying safe - we don't run naked, don't eat hunted animals, don't drink the water from reactor cooling tanks. But seriously speaking, we try to be cautious and avoid any risks.
Q: Are all training sessions with allies gameplay driven (ala the shooting test seen in the demo)?
A: We'll see, we're not sure yet how many of them will be in the final game.
Q: Will there be any real life letters or diaries you found brought into the game?
A: We'd like to make it this way.
Q: So the Cold War gas masks KS rewards are actual ones or reproductions?
A: It's the real stuff.
Q: Will you guys also put in area's based on photo's ( when you cant reach a certain area duo to radiation for example), or only actual 3d scanned things?
A: In some cases we'll need to use photo decorations or (where it needs to be explored) hand-made 3D objects.
Q: Will there be diagetic music?
A: Yes, that's the plan.
