Hello Stalkers!
As promised, we are continuing with our series of entries, in which we intend to tell you how the individual elements of the game were created. Today we will talk about the most important one, which is the main character. Meet Igor Khymynuk.
Some players were very surprised that we don’t control the modern Rambo - one that breaks through the levels and unloads the entire series from a rifle at its opponents. This would probably solve the problem of entering the power plant area faster and more efficiently. The reason why it was different is quite simple: from the beginning, we didn't want to make a game that was totally action-oriented and/or shooting-oriented. On the contrary!
Chernobyl is a beautiful and mysterious place, full of secrets and dangers. The sight of a soldier definitely does not encourage fighting, but rather fleeing. We wanted to reflect our true emotions from real visits and experiences in Chernobyl, not to create an American abstract action movie. Hence, it was natural for us to create a hero of flesh and blood, who avoids fighting, does not want to kill, but is clever enough to defeat the opponent. When creating Igor, we had in our minds such characters as Joel from The Last of Us, a journalist from Outlast, and James from Silent Hill. They are just normal people who find themselves in an abnormal situation.
In addition, keeping with the historical realities, we also wanted to create a character who was somehow influenced by the Chernobyl disaster. Preferably one for whom it was her or his immediate experience, or even better - they worked at the power plant. And since the catastrophe took place almost 40 years ago, the hero needed to be of a specific age, and have a specific approach to solving problems. And so Igor is a man who’s been through a lot and has a doctorate in physics and chemistry. A person with such a background would rather avoid combat and construct traps than throw himself into action with a rifle in his hand. Besides, you know very well that Igor doesn’t react best when he needs to kill another person...
What motivated Igor to throw himself into the middle of the Chernobyl zone was the desire to find his beloved, who went missing on the day the power plant exploded. This is the main plot.
The Chernobyl disaster hides two particularly interesting puzzles: why did it happen, and what happened right after it? A lot of books, films and documents have touched the first question. (recently even a TV series). When it comes to the second question: stories about the victims of a catastrophe are a difficult subject of research and investigation.In addition, two days after the disaster, the city of 50,000 was evacuated - people were packed in buses and transported to unknown places throughout the USSR. Families were separated, many people disappeared without a trace. The fact that someone returns to Chernobyl to find a loved one who has disappeared is actually the first thing that comes to mind after hearing these stories. This motif was a perfect fit for Igor and Tatiana's story: two lovers separated on the day of the catastrophe and now trying to find each other after many years. The paranormal elements are merely a diversifying addition.
As for implementing the main theme - without going into too much detail, to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t yet played Chernobylite - we can say that the story has gone through three iterations: before the start of Early Access, right after the game's release on EA (we took into account the feedback of players who had some comments), and the third and final one, a few months before the official premiere. Each iteration more or less affected Igor. Because the more complete the vision of the game was, the more Igor evolved with it.
Before we finish this post, we have a little announcement for you. Be with us next week, July 28. We are preparing a lot of surprises for you on the occasion of the first anniversary of Chernobylite. You cannot miss :)
That's it for today!
Take care, Stalkers!
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