How Chernobyl Helped Me Create Sound for Survarium
When I started working on the sound design for Survarium — a post-apocalyptic shooter about survival in a world overtaken by nature — I quickly realized that standard sound libraries wouldn’t cut it. I needed a real atmosphere: tense, alive, and unique. That’s why I decided to travel to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This place became my source of sounds that made the game deeper and more believable.
Sounds of the Post-Apocalypse: How I Sought Atmosphere for the Game
Survarium is a world of abandoned cities, anomalies, and struggle. I wanted the sound to pull players into it. So, I made an effort to record sounds in various spots around the Chernobyl Zone, ensuring they’d feel as real as possible in the game. For instance, footsteps in a room with a wooden floor had to differ from those on concrete. A jump by a character in light gear on a metal staircase had to sound distinct from a jump by one in heavy gear on the same stairs. Running on sand had to differ from running on grass. I aimed to capture every detail and record as many sounds as I could, building a stockpile of realistic material to work with later.
Recording Gear: What I Used in Chernobyl
For the job, I brought a binaural microphone — it creates a sense of presence, as if the player is standing right where I recorded. I used a Zoom H6 for clean captures of footsteps and ambient noise. Contact microphones were attached to rusty doors and pipes to pick up scrapes and vibrations. For anomalies, I experimented with a hydrophone, dipping it into puddles and basements to catch deep, rumbling tones. Each tool brought something unique that later found its place in the game.