S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored
17 Achievements
PS4
Documentalist
Find all the handwritten notes.
6.3%
How to unlock the Documentalist achievement in S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored - Definitive Guide
guidh15
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
It’s sort of hard to pinpoint exactly what counts or doesn’t count since the game has no real tracker and the Additional Materials tab on the main menu is of no help, but here goes. These can also be obtained during chapter replay.
Now, the achievement is for finding “all the handwritten notes”, but I would still advise to at least click on every note every time you interact with a computer. Just in case.
This is as accurate as I can be without a tracker. If I’ve forgotten any note, leave a note below and I’ll make sure to add it.
1-Employee’s note - Left office with the ringing/exploding telephone, the note will be on the small desk on the left.
2-Note about the detector - After the telephone explodes, go back out into the hallway and in the room on the right on the desk in the back.
3-Letter from Professor Kaydanovskiy’s office – In the office with the radio, on the left bookshelf behind the desk.
((Now, this office has a computer in the cupboard. The code for it is 1394. Read the 3 notes on the computer just in case (The S.W.A.N. Factor/Binding Capsule/Creation of the S.W.A.N. Institute). ))
4-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 1: transcript – Safe office as #3, grab the cassette tape next to the computer and listen to it using the audio player on the other desk.
5-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 2: transcript - Next you’ll open an office using the key you just got from the safe in Kaydanovskiy’s office. Listen to the cassette on the left side of the room.
((In that same office is a computer you need to interact with to progress the story forward. You can read the note under “Description”.))
6-Famous Soviet scientists 1 – After exiting the previous room, you’ll end up in a hallway with the word RUN written in red on the floor. Go forward until you reach a fork. Take the left path and you’ll see a narrow staircase. Go down and into the room. The note is on the desk in the back right corner. (The other piece of paper on the middle desk is one of the Secret Digits required for the Seeker/Explorer achievements, but they are not relevant to this one so I won’t mention them going forward.)
7-Note from the control room - If you continue straight at the fork mentioned for note #6, you’ll see 3 doors ahead of you. The left one (Control Room) has this note on the desk on the left side.
8-Ward Manager’s note – Grab the key from the control room and open the door of the room straight ahead. It’s on the desk on the other side of the bed.
9-First note from the Intermediary Room – On the bed on the left after going through the first void leading to Memory Wasteland 1.
10-Second note from the Intermediary Room – Same room as #9 on the desk on the right.
((Use the computer and read the Description. This is also required to open the door.))
11-Patient’s note - Immediately after the first Memory Wasteland section, you’ll come to a room with what looks like baby cribs and experience a vision with blood and blinking lights. Leave the room and turn left into the hallway. Go into the door on the left side and into the second door on the right. The note will be on the bed.
12-Patient’s note 2 – Exit the room with note #11 and go into the room on the immediate right. This note is in the lone drawer on the floor next to the bed.
13-Patient’s note 3 – You’ll eventually reach a long hallway with a kneeling patient in the middle. Run past him, turn left, then right and go into the room at the end of this hallway. (The back wall has a message that reads “Liar, he ruined our lives”) The note is on the desk between the beds on the right side.
14-Nurse’s note – Go back into the previous hallway and go left to the locked door with a keypad. The code is 4729 and the note will be on the desk right in front of you.
((In the room where you get the Nadya Filter is a computer you need to interact with. There’s a Description tab you can read.))
15-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 3: transcript – Listen to the audio tape in the room where you first get the Nadya Filter
16-Famous Soviet scientists 2 – After grabbing the key from the wooden crate during the first Nadya Filter section (same room as #15), go up the stairs to the next floor and into the locked door the key opens. On the desk to the right is the note.
17-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 8: transcript – When you get to the basement, you’ll walk through a white room that will trigger a ticking sound with the objective “Do not allow the day to come”. Continue forward into the last room at the end of the hallway which looks like an operating table. Listen the cassette on the right.
((After the basement section where you collect the 7 rays, you’ll reach the second Memory Wasteland. Now, to the best of my knowledge the notes here don’t register as new notes even though you’ll get a Journal Entry prompt at the top of the screen. They also do not create new Notes in your Journal, but just to be 100% sure, every time you reach the Intermediary Room, grab the note on the bed and the one on the desk to the right. Also, make sure to read the Description on the computer. Do this for every Memory Wasteland section.))
18-Plants – Immediately after exiting Memory Wasteland 2, it’s in the first room you’ll come across on the desk.
19-Employee’s Note 2 – After #18, you’ll go up 4 flights of stairs. At the top, go right at the end of the hallway and into the office. (It’s the office where you find the marker). On the small desk on the right is the note.
20-Unknown author’s note – In the room where you get the floppy disk/have to plug in the microphone, it’ll be right in front of you.
21-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 4: transcript – After the light/microphone puzzle where you trap the tall lady into a room, you’ll run in the hallway she was blocking and end up being teleported back into a previous room of the institute. There’s a cassette to listen to on the right before exiting this room.
22-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 5: transcript – Not so long after the puzzle mentioned in note #21, you’ll go through another Nadya Filter section, then another Memory Wasteland section. After those, you’ll end up back in a hallway. The first open room on the right has a cassette tape on the right side.
23-Famous Soviet scientists 3 – After the previous note, you’ll end up in a very long hallway with yellow/white walls and reach another Nadya Filter section. Go left at the fork and into the first office you’ll come across. This note is in the back left corner on a desk.
24-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 7 – Complete the previously mentioned Nadya Filter sequence until you can break the crate and head through the door it unlocks. The first room on the right in this next hallway has the cassette tape.
25-Patient’s note 4 – When the anti-radiation medicine section begins (with the permanent radiation meter in the bottom left), run straight ahead to the other end of the hallway and open the door. At the end of this hallway and the spooky crawling shadow, go into the room on the right and the note will be on the desk. (you could also neutralize the radiation first and then come back to this room afterwards if you’re afraid of not running low on time/and you’ll get another chance after the next Memory Wasteland before getting on the elevator)
26-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 6 – During the anti-radiation medicine section, you will go through double glass doors and reach another long hallway. At the end before the staircase, turn left and you’ll come to a room with a safe (inside is a floppy disk you need to proceed with the story) This room has a cassette tape you can listen to. I don’t think it’s possible to re-enter this room after shutting off the radiation so make sure to grab it when opening the safe.
27-1st floor control room, employee memo – During the anti-radiation medicine section, you’ll find this note on a desk in the room with the computer on the bottom floor.
((After shutting off the radiation, you’ll spawn back in the room with the computer. Under Documentation, you’ll find 3 tabs (Patients (4 documents)/Therapy and Research (3 documents)/S.W.A.N. Diseases and Anomalies (6 documents). I don’t think those count, but again, let’s make sure just in case.))
28-Patient’s note 5 – You’ll come to a point where you’ll see a soldier behind a glass panel who instructs you with shutting the doors before something kills him. The code for the keypad is 639072. Hit the button in that room and then the button in the room with the glass panel. Enjoy the cutscene and then the jump scare near the glass panel. Leave the room, go left and then left again in a hallway until you reach an open door. Go inside and go into the first open room on the left. The note is to your immediate right on a desk.
29-Famous Soviet scientists 4 – In the Nadya Filter sequence immediately following note #28, you’ll come to a fork and you should see the Blind Man coming in from the hallway on the left. The first room on this side of the hallway has this note on a desk.
30-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 9: transcript - After coming out of the next Memory Wasteland, you’ll find yourself in a room with a large divider. Exit that room to reach the Whisper Room hallway. Once you can progress forward, you’ll teleport into another hallway. The first room on the left has a cassette on the desk.
31-Famous Soviet scientists 5 – In the following room with the flashing TV, this note is on a chair on the right side. (This is the one I missed on my first playthrough, having gotten so used to only finding notes on tables/desks)
Again, if I've missed anything, feel free to point it out. Good hunting!
Now, the achievement is for finding “all the handwritten notes”, but I would still advise to at least click on every note every time you interact with a computer. Just in case.
This is as accurate as I can be without a tracker. If I’ve forgotten any note, leave a note below and I’ll make sure to add it.
1-Employee’s note - Left office with the ringing/exploding telephone, the note will be on the small desk on the left.
2-Note about the detector - After the telephone explodes, go back out into the hallway and in the room on the right on the desk in the back.
3-Letter from Professor Kaydanovskiy’s office – In the office with the radio, on the left bookshelf behind the desk.
((Now, this office has a computer in the cupboard. The code for it is 1394. Read the 3 notes on the computer just in case (The S.W.A.N. Factor/Binding Capsule/Creation of the S.W.A.N. Institute). ))
4-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 1: transcript – Safe office as #3, grab the cassette tape next to the computer and listen to it using the audio player on the other desk.
5-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 2: transcript - Next you’ll open an office using the key you just got from the safe in Kaydanovskiy’s office. Listen to the cassette on the left side of the room.
((In that same office is a computer you need to interact with to progress the story forward. You can read the note under “Description”.))
6-Famous Soviet scientists 1 – After exiting the previous room, you’ll end up in a hallway with the word RUN written in red on the floor. Go forward until you reach a fork. Take the left path and you’ll see a narrow staircase. Go down and into the room. The note is on the desk in the back right corner. (The other piece of paper on the middle desk is one of the Secret Digits required for the Seeker/Explorer achievements, but they are not relevant to this one so I won’t mention them going forward.)
7-Note from the control room - If you continue straight at the fork mentioned for note #6, you’ll see 3 doors ahead of you. The left one (Control Room) has this note on the desk on the left side.
8-Ward Manager’s note – Grab the key from the control room and open the door of the room straight ahead. It’s on the desk on the other side of the bed.
9-First note from the Intermediary Room – On the bed on the left after going through the first void leading to Memory Wasteland 1.
10-Second note from the Intermediary Room – Same room as #9 on the desk on the right.
((Use the computer and read the Description. This is also required to open the door.))
11-Patient’s note - Immediately after the first Memory Wasteland section, you’ll come to a room with what looks like baby cribs and experience a vision with blood and blinking lights. Leave the room and turn left into the hallway. Go into the door on the left side and into the second door on the right. The note will be on the bed.
12-Patient’s note 2 – Exit the room with note #11 and go into the room on the immediate right. This note is in the lone drawer on the floor next to the bed.
13-Patient’s note 3 – You’ll eventually reach a long hallway with a kneeling patient in the middle. Run past him, turn left, then right and go into the room at the end of this hallway. (The back wall has a message that reads “Liar, he ruined our lives”) The note is on the desk between the beds on the right side.
14-Nurse’s note – Go back into the previous hallway and go left to the locked door with a keypad. The code is 4729 and the note will be on the desk right in front of you.
((In the room where you get the Nadya Filter is a computer you need to interact with. There’s a Description tab you can read.))
15-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 3: transcript – Listen to the audio tape in the room where you first get the Nadya Filter
16-Famous Soviet scientists 2 – After grabbing the key from the wooden crate during the first Nadya Filter section (same room as #15), go up the stairs to the next floor and into the locked door the key opens. On the desk to the right is the note.
17-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 8: transcript – When you get to the basement, you’ll walk through a white room that will trigger a ticking sound with the objective “Do not allow the day to come”. Continue forward into the last room at the end of the hallway which looks like an operating table. Listen the cassette on the right.
((After the basement section where you collect the 7 rays, you’ll reach the second Memory Wasteland. Now, to the best of my knowledge the notes here don’t register as new notes even though you’ll get a Journal Entry prompt at the top of the screen. They also do not create new Notes in your Journal, but just to be 100% sure, every time you reach the Intermediary Room, grab the note on the bed and the one on the desk to the right. Also, make sure to read the Description on the computer. Do this for every Memory Wasteland section.))
18-Plants – Immediately after exiting Memory Wasteland 2, it’s in the first room you’ll come across on the desk.
19-Employee’s Note 2 – After #18, you’ll go up 4 flights of stairs. At the top, go right at the end of the hallway and into the office. (It’s the office where you find the marker). On the small desk on the right is the note.
20-Unknown author’s note – In the room where you get the floppy disk/have to plug in the microphone, it’ll be right in front of you.
21-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 4: transcript – After the light/microphone puzzle where you trap the tall lady into a room, you’ll run in the hallway she was blocking and end up being teleported back into a previous room of the institute. There’s a cassette to listen to on the right before exiting this room.
22-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 5: transcript – Not so long after the puzzle mentioned in note #21, you’ll go through another Nadya Filter section, then another Memory Wasteland section. After those, you’ll end up back in a hallway. The first open room on the right has a cassette tape on the right side.
23-Famous Soviet scientists 3 – After the previous note, you’ll end up in a very long hallway with yellow/white walls and reach another Nadya Filter section. Go left at the fork and into the first office you’ll come across. This note is in the back left corner on a desk.
24-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 7 – Complete the previously mentioned Nadya Filter sequence until you can break the crate and head through the door it unlocks. The first room on the right in this next hallway has the cassette tape.
25-Patient’s note 4 – When the anti-radiation medicine section begins (with the permanent radiation meter in the bottom left), run straight ahead to the other end of the hallway and open the door. At the end of this hallway and the spooky crawling shadow, go into the room on the right and the note will be on the desk. (you could also neutralize the radiation first and then come back to this room afterwards if you’re afraid of not running low on time/and you’ll get another chance after the next Memory Wasteland before getting on the elevator)
26-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 6 – During the anti-radiation medicine section, you will go through double glass doors and reach another long hallway. At the end before the staircase, turn left and you’ll come to a room with a safe (inside is a floppy disk you need to proceed with the story) This room has a cassette tape you can listen to. I don’t think it’s possible to re-enter this room after shutting off the radiation so make sure to grab it when opening the safe.
27-1st floor control room, employee memo – During the anti-radiation medicine section, you’ll find this note on a desk in the room with the computer on the bottom floor.
((After shutting off the radiation, you’ll spawn back in the room with the computer. Under Documentation, you’ll find 3 tabs (Patients (4 documents)/Therapy and Research (3 documents)/S.W.A.N. Diseases and Anomalies (6 documents). I don’t think those count, but again, let’s make sure just in case.))
28-Patient’s note 5 – You’ll come to a point where you’ll see a soldier behind a glass panel who instructs you with shutting the doors before something kills him. The code for the keypad is 639072. Hit the button in that room and then the button in the room with the glass panel. Enjoy the cutscene and then the jump scare near the glass panel. Leave the room, go left and then left again in a hallway until you reach an open door. Go inside and go into the first open room on the left. The note is to your immediate right on a desk.
29-Famous Soviet scientists 4 – In the Nadya Filter sequence immediately following note #28, you’ll come to a fork and you should see the Blind Man coming in from the hallway on the left. The first room on this side of the hallway has this note on a desk.
30-Professor Kaydanovskiy’s recording 9: transcript - After coming out of the next Memory Wasteland, you’ll find yourself in a room with a large divider. Exit that room to reach the Whisper Room hallway. Once you can progress forward, you’ll teleport into another hallway. The first room on the left has a cassette on the desk.
31-Famous Soviet scientists 5 – In the following room with the flashing TV, this note is on a chair on the right side. (This is the one I missed on my first playthrough, having gotten so used to only finding notes on tables/desks)
Again, if I've missed anything, feel free to point it out. Good hunting!
