Nuclear Union Interview
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What happened to the world after the nuclear war? Which states are preserved? How many people are on the planet? Are there any areas that were not affected by the war?
Immediately after the 1962 war, in addition to a part of the USSR and a number of peripheral countries in Western Europe (e.g. Spain), a large area of Asia survived including China, Japan, Iran, and India. Nothing serious happened to Australia, Africa and South America. However the nuclear war was only the first in a series of global catastrophes. Huge masses of people died during the harsh winter of 1962-1963 from cold and hunger.
Further, over the years the Arctic ice was covered with soot from huge fires. The reflectivity of the surface decreased and the ice began to melt. This led to a fast rise of global sea levels and flooding of large areas. Floods, in turn, unevenly increased the pressure on the continental plates that led to a series of abnormally strong earthquakes in 1970.
As a result of these disasters, many parts of Eurasia have disappeared from the face of the Earth. In particular, it destroyed the remains of the public entities in China, Japan and India. The total number of people on Earth is estimated to be 250 million compared to today's total of almost 7 billion.
In 2013 the official Soviet point of view states that the capitalist countries no longer exist. In reality it is not 100% true. There are small states even in the USA, for example, the Texas Directory. However, due to the almost complete cessation of flights, long range navigation and the destruction of the tropospheric Heaviside layer (which provides long range radio communications) there is no opportunity for regular contact.
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The screenshots show some humanoid mutants. Who are they? From whom they originated?
They used to be people. Mainly they are so-called retrogenets. The main mechanism of the post-war mutations was "disinhibition" of some sections of the human genome in such a way that areas stored in it, that are common with other living creatures began to manage growth and development. So there are many chimeras: a man with gills, a man who can use webs (like a spider), a man that strikes with lightning (like an electric ray).
The game has a fundamentally different source of mutated creatures, but we will mysteriously keep silent about it for the time being.
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Are there any vehicles in the game? Only the ones remained from before the war period or any industry is still operational?
The situation with the industry is very complicated. Let's say the heavier the industry, the more it collapsed. But the Soviet industry suffered the main losses not just during the war (although the destruction of some industrial areas was horrifying), but during the post-war devolution in 1963-1983. Thus, for example, the production of heavy four-track T-12 tanks (Object 279), which are perfect for the post-nuclear world conditions, were carried out in 1963-1975, but then it died out because the stock for gun barrels and some engine components was exhausted...
In 2013 shipbuilding in the USSR is completely destroyed, as well as the aircraft industry. But, for example, an electronic industry successfully developed. Super-computers were created. Robotics has achieved notable success. It made it possible to start the construction of the unique Kubinka spaceport. It was constructed by robots under control of the Setun-2000 super-computer. However, there was another story with this computer... Players will see.
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Please tell us about the weapons. What are they like, how many different weapons will be in the game, can we craft weapons ourselves?
There are several types of weapons: - Weapons already obsolete in 1962, but still available in stockpiles in large quantities (PPSh, DP-27, Mosin carbine, SKS auto-loading carbine) - Weapons that were modern in 1962 (AK assault rifle, RPD machine gun) - Homemade alterations of various weapons (sawed off for example) - Rare and exotic, but real, weapons of that time (for example, Czech Scorpion sub-machine gun) - Experimental weapons that in the game universe went into mass production after 1962 (three-barreled machine gun '˜Appliance 3B', TKB-022 assault rifle, etc.) - Fictional weapons created in post-war USSR, including those based on artifacts and the newest technologies.
Add to this, various cold arms, sidearms, hunting rifles, grenades, Molotov cocktails and other stuff. You can't create weapons yourself.
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From a first glance, the game looks a lot like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the Fallout series. Are there similarities?
There are no similarities, at least in the most important things. First, usually a state and its basic parts (army, police, scientific institutions) are the main reason for the end of the world in post-apocalyptic games (either actions of its military led to the war or scientists made a doomsday virus on purpose, or something along these lines). Secondly, even if some state institutions remain in the game, they are usually hostile to the main hero (for example, government special forces hunting down Gordon Freeman in Black Mesa).
On the other hand, we're making a '˜positive anti-utopia'. We show a world that is hostile, that is not funny and that contains numerous dangers. But state '˜stalkers' ('˜special scouts' in the terminology of the game), scientists, the state government itself they all are '˜our people', they are allied to the player in game terms. The same is true for a number of isolated communities that are loyal to the central power.
Sure, players can choose to go and help bandits, for example, and thus inflict harm to the state. Nevertheless, the state as a whole is a good thing in our game. We don't do this for propaganda purposes (my personal feelings towards the Soviet state of late 1980s are mixed, I can't describe them as positive), but for creating a fresh, new, original setting.
