Survival RPG Chernobylite 2 asks fans to crowdfund a heavily-requested feature

It’s safe to say that Chernobylite 2 doesn’t lack ambition. While its first-person survival RPG predecessor was relatively successful, the upcoming sequel is aiming much higher, switching to a third-person view and adding loads more RPG systems. However, to realize that ambition, developer The Farm 51 is looking for some help, and has just launched a Kickstarter to help make Chernobylite 2 “bigger, better, and more badass.”

Specifically, the Chernobylite 2 dev is actually looking to crowdfund the development of a feature it never even planned to have in its new RPG game. As mentioned, the original Chernobylite was a first-person affair. To realize its vision of vastly improved combat and to “avoid being constantly confused with first-person shooters,” it decided to go third-person for the sequel’s combat.

However, after posting Chernobylite 2’s reveal trailer last year, The Farm 51 says it was inundated with feedback from existing fans requesting a toggle that would allow them to switch back to first-person. Clearly full of admiration for the feeling of the original, and wanting the in-your-face immersion first-person combat can create, this deluge of feedback has forced the developer to rethink.

“Right after receiving the first comments on the lack of first-person combat, we discussed things internally,” the developer says on its Kickstarter page. “We gave ourselves time to challenge our previous assumptions by making another prototype of the FPP [first-person perspective] combat system (the first one in 2021-2022 was not really promising, but we were struggling with an incomplete version of the game engine at the time and got rid of it). We are aware that combat was not the strongest element of Chernobylite 1, and creating an open world on a much larger scale presents even more challenges in this difficult task… But talking with our community has given us the strength to try again.

“Now, almost three months of experimentation with altered gameplay mechanics prototypes made us believe we can build the player’s POV combat into the existing game, but it won’t be an easy task. It’s not just [a] “switch the camera” option. We need to make the custom FPP animations for each weapon (and there are dozens of them in Chernobylite 2), address the melee combat camera issues, add and tweak camera animations for each movement, alter the collision detection system, make sure that the game balance and difficulty levels will work in the new setup, and many more.”

Due to the extra work that adding this feature would create, the new Kickstarter campaign is aiming to raise 95,000 euros, which equates to roughly $97,800 / £80,100. Backers can pick from a huge range of tiers, ranging from small donations, to pre-orders of the game and early demo access, to a 4,000 euro tier that will let you become an NPC in the game and attend its in-person premiere.

At the time of writing, just a few hours after it went live, the Chernobylite 2 Kickstarter has got around a third of its way to its funding goal already. To check out more details about the game or to donate yourself, head to its page here.

Also be sure to check out some of other amazing survival games and apocalypse games you can play right now if you want to experience some Chernobylite vibes.

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