- Title: Chernobyl comes alive in Ukrainian computer game
- Date: 26th April 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CO-FOUNDER OF 'ISOTOPIUM: CHERNOBYL', SERGEY BESKRESTNOV, SAYING: "Many players, who play our game - some for the first five minutes, some for 10 minutes - don't understand that it is not fictional. They message us saying: 'You have cool textures, you have good graphics, your designer is good, well-done. You have a cool game operating system.' People
- Embargoed: 10th May 2019 11:22
- Keywords: Chernobyl computer game Ukraine Isotopium remote reality nuclear disaster abandoned Prypyat ghost town
- Location: BROVARY AND PRYPYAT, UKRAINE
- City: BROVARY AND PRYPYAT, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Video Games,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA009AC3KRP5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Dozens of robotic cars drive around the abandoned ghost town of Prypyat near Chernobyl, the scene of a catastrophic nuclear accident 33 years ago, exploring every inch of the city in search for a resource called 'isotopium'.
This is not an episode of a science fiction movie, but Ukrainian computer game 'Isotopium: Chernobyl' which has attracted 60,000 people globally since its launch in October 2018.
When they first start playing, players don't realise that what they see on their screens is not a hyper-realistic virtual world, but instead a model of Prypyat rendered down to the tiniest detail.
They control a real robot, equipped with a camera and computer, as it makes its way around the model city.
Many players send messages praising the game's graphics and designs before they realise it is not virtual, said 'Isotopium: Chernobyl' co-founder Sergey Beskrestnov.
Beskrestnov was just 12 years old when on April 26, 1986 a botched test at the Soviet nuclear plant sent clouds of nuclear material billowing across Europe and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate, including his family.
Using Google Maps and hundreds of pictures from the area around Chernobyl, Beskrestnov and his game co-founder Aleksey Fateyev recreated the main landmarks of Prypyat, including residential buildings, a hotel, the concert hall, amusement park and stadium.
They did not limit themselves to building exteriors, but also recreated the interiors in painstaking detail.
Miniature radioactivity warning signs, tables and chairs scattered inside a small cafe and graffiti on the walls of the abandoned buildings add to the creepy atmosphere of what was once a lively town.
However attentive players will notice at least one inaccuracy - the real Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not located in Prypyat as it is in the game.
Players occasionally ask to see the 'Chernobyl monster' - a game administrator dressed up like one of the rescue workers after the nuclear accident, complete with a gas mask.
They retell the legend of a giant man living in the game, said Berskrestnov. In reality, the administrator sometimes appears in costume to change the car's batteries.
The model occupies a 180-square metre (1937 sq foot) basement in a residential building in Brovary, 150 km (93 miles) from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and 30 km from the capital city, Kiev.
Inspired by James Cameron's movie 'Avatar' and the idea of controlling objects remotely, the team have called their robotic cars, each costing $500, 'avacars'.
They claim to be the first in the world to introduce the 'remote reality' concept in computer games. The camera fixed on top of the 'avacar' live-streams footage, allowing up to 20 players at a time from around the world to enjoy the game in real time.
Beskrestnov and Fateyev said their next goal is to create a game allowing players to colonise Mars, and jokingly suggested they might contact Tesla Inc. Chief Executive and space enthusiast Elon Musk to help with the project.
(Production: Margaryta Chornokondratenko, David Chkhikvishvili) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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