Let’s talk Frequency: Chernobyl - development progress notes

Locations, textures, and lightning

The story of Frequency: Chernobyl takes place in a relatively small area surrounding the Duga OTH radar system. The protagonist won’t have to explore a large open world, thus allowing us to focus on modeling the 3D assets for a photorealistic recreation of the game’s real-life locale.

This rather broad array of tasks includes model positioning, post-processing, lighting effects, as well as recreating textures and materials according to the photos and videos that were taken on-site, etc.

As you know, the mighty Duga radar station and the buildings surrounding it were deserted for a very long time, so we had to take this fact into consideration when working on the in-game world. Players will encounter abandoned items, overgrown plants, rusty metal constructions, and graffiti left behind by previous visitors, whereas indoors sections will be decorated with faded Soviet-era posters, crumbling plaster, and old-fashioned furniture.

Scenario and quests

We have dedicated a sizable portion of our time to storyline-related tasks, dialogues, and tricky ciphers. About the first thirty minutes of gameplay are meant to be quite linear, with puzzles queued up to form a continuous chain of events. We intentionally designed the prologue in this way to give the player more time to get used to the controls and the game’s core mechanics. Moving forward, they will come across unexpected plot twists, hidden Easter eggs, as well as more sophisticated missions. Our goal is to enriсh the game’s lore while putting an emphasis on individual characters’ personalities.

Voiceovers, sound effects, and the OST

We have recently added numerous in-game sounds, a couple of ham radio stations, as well as random amateur radio transmissions, and new background music. This aspect of Frequency: Chernobyl is handled by a professional sound producer, and we have partnered with a talented composer, Tim32, to produce an original soundtrack. Feel free to check some of his tracks here: tim32.bandcamp.com/music

What’s next?

The Frequency: Chernobyl prologue is almost ready as we are adding some finishing touches. Yes, you have read it right! Before long, we shall release a free version of Frequency: Chernobyl where you will be able to try yourself in the role of an amateur radio enthusiast, hunt for Radio Chaos, and dive into a mysterious world of numbers stations!

If you don’t want to miss the prologue launch date announcement and would like to know more about the project itself, add Frequency: Chernobyl to your wishlist now and subscribe to our news on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1415600/Frequency_Chernobyl/