BURNED HORIZONS News

[p]// DISPATCH UPDATE

We’re also posting two D-logs today to pull everyone into sync on where Burned Horizons is headed. D-vlogs post every Monday.

For the latest versions — with edits, notes, and extras — you’ll always find them first on our Discord and the D-logs channel. [/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]
* \[ EARLY CONCEPT ART — NOT FINAL ]

⬤ D-LOG ENTRY [0008]

[// DEV]
[2025-07-21-0930]
[POE // DVG-98]
[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
[RE: WHEN THINGS BREAK]

We can track skills, chart loadouts.
But what happens when a guy just… stops firing?

Not because of empty mags or a jam —
but because something that doesn’t show up on a stat sheet fractures.

That’s the reality when it comes to trauma and war.
It’s not always pixel-perfect.

---

>> BREAKDOWN RISK

Operators aren’t invincible.
They don’t respawn with clean slates.
Some keep it together. Others don’t.

Stress stacks. Fatigue spreads.
You miss enough evac windows, you watch enough teammates drop —
it builds up. Somewhere inside.

And eventually, it shows.

> Hesitations.
> Misfires.
> Late calls.
> Self-removal from overwatch.
> Silence when silence isn’t helpful.

The Codex sees it.
The system flags it.
Your squadmates start reacting —
even if they don’t say anything out loud.

---

>> STABILITY PROFILE

Every operator has a behavioral floor.
How close they are to it depends on:

> Their history
> What they’ve survived
> Their cohesion
> What command sees in them
> And how *you* treat them

The more fractured they are, the easier it is to fall through.

Some break clean — walk off mission.
Some fracture slow — one mistake at a time.

The game tracks both.

---

>> FLAGS + TAGS

You won’t get a big red warning when someone’s slipping.
But the Codex starts to shift — and so does the tone.

Operators may be tagged as:

> STABLE
> STRESSED
> FRACTURING
> COMPROMISED
> REDACTED

Some can bounce back.
Some don’t.

And you won’t always know where the line is — until it’s already behind you.

---

>> CONSEQUENCES

Operators might:

> Refuse orders
> Break cohesion
> Lock under pressure
> Ask to be pulled
> Get removed from your roster
> Or vanish into REDACTED status — Codex-sealed

Some return.
Some don’t.
And the ones that stay… might not be the same.


/// ===============================================//



/// ===============================================//


⬤ D-LOG ENTRY [0009]

[// DEV]
[2025-07-28-0915]
[POE // DVG-98]
[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
[RE: WHY THIS // WHY THEN]

I should probably back up and touch on the lore.
Why this time period? What’s NAFOSEC’s backstory?
Why do they do what they do — and how does it all feed into the tone and immersion?

2002 felt like a pivot — the edge between old-school warfare and the modern era of drones, PMCs, black sites, and proxy wars.
It was the last breath of analog conflict before everything shifted.

Timeframe locked.
Now the who.

NAFOSEC. Why?

I’ve always backed freedom.
Freedom from oppression.
Freedom to choose your course.
Freedom to just exist.

So when I started looking for inspiration, I tapped into something that echoes both past and present.

And I thought — what would a group of operators do if their moral code wasn’t shackled by zero-sum politics?
The kind of guys who’d seen allies thrown to the wolves because it was the “politically right” move.
The kind who’d watched civilians brutalized because someone ran the numbers and called it acceptable.

NAFOSEC came out of that.
IYKYK.

If you buy the premise — operators from across the world, drawn together by purpose — they’d adapt.
They’d take what they knew. The tech they had. Hack it, mod it, repurpose it.
Their language. Their slang. Their stripped-down take on bureaucracy.
All of it shaped by where they came from — their differences, their experiences, their SCARS.

/// ===============================================

SUPPORT THE OP
👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.

OPN-FULCRUM // PHASE 2 -KICKSTARTER \[JAN 2026] → JAN 2026. Mission-critical funding op to carry Burned Horizons forward. Stay locked in — followers get the deployment notice first.[/p]

[p]// DISPATCH UPDATE

We’re also posting two D-logs today to pull everyone into sync on where Burned Horizons is headed. D-vlogs post every Monday.

For the latest versions — with edits, notes, and extras — you’ll always find them first on our Discord and the D-logs channel. [/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]
* \[ EARLY CONCEPT ART — NOT FINAL ]

D-LOG ENTRY \[0006]
[/p][p]\[// DEV]\[2025-07-07-1100]
\[POE // DVG-98]
\[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
\[RE: STRUCTURE VS STORY]

Working through UCD/S, Scars, Roles, Archetypes, Attributes —
then folding that back into the operator bios I’d already written →
formatting → timestamps → service logs → more formatting → quirks → reconciling all of it —
it all bleeds together real fast.

Trying to remember where this note is, where that logic was scratched out,
how exactly the service record formatting works...

So how do you track all that internal knowledge
and set a single source of truth for everything that follows?

DEV BIBLE [IPSEC].

>> DEV BIBLE HOLDS

> Role + Archetype Definitions
> Scar Logic + UCD/S Progression
> Attribute Stack + Behavioral Reactions
> Operator Format Standards + Timestamp Schemas
> Service Record + Log Entry Styling
> Syntax, Jargon, and Field Language
> System Interaction + Internal Logic Flow

---

>> WHY IT MATTERS

It is the holder of truth when it comes to how BH works.

If it touches logic, tone, formatting, structure,
syntax, progression, scars, trust, modding rules, or expansions — it runs through the DEV BIBLE.

If it doesn’t?
It doesn’t make it in.


/// ===============================================


⬤ D-LOG ENTRY \[0007]

\[// DEV]
\[2025-07-14-0930]
\[POE // DVG-98]
\[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
\[RE: THE GAME REMEMBERS]

You figure out how to track the logic — code, formatting, structure.
Cool. But how do you show the player what actually matters?

That’s what led to the Codex.

---

>> WHAT IT IS

The Codex tracks what your operators do —
how they act, change, break, or grow.
Scars. Drift. Reputation. Breakdown risk.

It’s also where the player checks everything:
Found items. Flags. Traits. Shifts. It’s all there.

---

>> WHAT IT DOES

Some things hit right away — tone shifts, tags, flags.
Others build up — consistency, cohesion, trust.

The Codex watches what you do.
It remembers — even if you don’t.
And then quietly adjusts what comes next.

---

We’ll get deeper into what the Codex unlocks —
and how it ties into long-term progression — in a later entry.

/// ===============================================

SUPPORT THE OP
👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.

OPN-FULCRUM // PHASE 2 -KICKSTARTER \[JAN 2026] → JAN 2026. Mission-critical funding op to carry Burned Horizons forward. Stay locked in — followers get the deployment notice first.[/p]

[h3]// SIGNAL INTERCEPTS[/h3][p]Two signals from beyond the wire.[/p][p] [/p][h3]TurnBasedLovers[/h3][p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]Popular Airsoft[/h3][p][/p]

//----

SUPPORT THE OP
👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.

OPN FULCRUM // PHASE 2 – KICKSTARTER → JAN 2026 // FOLLOW FOR LAUNCH NOTIFCATION
Mission-critical funding op to carry Burned Horizons forward.

[p]// DISPATCH UPDATE

Two weeks in and Burned Horizons has already stacked 2,000+ wishlists on Steam.
That’s converting on Steam well above typical indie averages — and that’s without a trailer, gameplay footage, or major social push. Early coverage from TurnBasedLovers and PopularAirsoft helped kick things off, and the next waves are already queued: fresh renders this month, the trailer in October, and the first alpha slice in December.

The Kickstarter launch page goes live within the next week. Target is 5–10k wishlists by campaign time in January. Every wishlist stacks the odds. Every share moves the line. Always forward.

We’re also posting two D-logs today to pull everyone into sync on where Burned Horizons is headed. D-vlogs post every Monday.

For the latest versions — with edits, notes, and extras — you’ll always find them first on our Discord and the D-logs channel.

[hr][/hr]
* [ EARLY CONCEPT ART — NOT FINAL ]
[/p][p]⬤ D-LOG ENTRY \[0004]

\[// DEV]
\[2025-06-23-1000]
\[POE // DVG-98]
\[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
\[RE: ROLES, ARCHETYPES, PATHWAYS]

ROLES
A Role is a locked-in designator.
You can’t swap it. Can’t respec out of it.

You don’t stop being a trauma operator just because you’ve been sniping for a few weeks.
You expand. You adapt. But the core? That stays.

And like real life, your Role doesn’t restrict what you’re allowed to do —
you can wear heavy armor, attempt tasks outside your skillset
or shoulder a different weapons system.

But it affects your proficiency.
You might be able to fire a Barrett —
you just won’t handle it like someone who’s trained with it,
deployed with it, and knows what it kicks like under pressure.

ARCHETYPES
Archetypes aren’t mechanical layers.
They’re narrative tone — shorthand flavor for how an operator thinks or carries weight.
Burnout Medic. Rogue Advisor. Reluctant Warden.

They might influence early cohesion or Scar profiles, but they don’t evolve.
They don’t override anything.
They’re there to give context — not direction.

SPECIALIZATION PATHWAYS
Behavior creates movement.

Do something long enough, well enough, and the system starts carving out new space.

The difference here is focus:

Roles define your starting capability
Archetypes reflect your emotional baseline
Specialization shows how those two evolve

None of it’s locked.
But none of it’s undone either.

Change lanes. Go hybrid. Become something new.
But your Role never leaves your file.

[hr][/hr]

[/p][hr][/hr][p]⬤ D-LOG ENTRY \[0005]

\[// DEV]
\[2025-06-30-0930]
\[POE // DVG-98]
\[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
\[RE: THE SYSTEM REMEMBERS]

Once you strip out XP, levels, and class trees —
you’re still left with the question:
how do you track who someone actually is?

You need memory.
You need scars.
You need a system that watches.

The game watches.

ATTRIBUTES

Operators don’t get Strength 10 and Dexterity 8.
They don’t roll for INT or unlock perks with XP.

Attributes in Burned Horizons aren’t chosen.
They emerge. They evolve. They fracture.

You start with a foundation —
a few grounded choices during character creation:
a background, a Role, a handful of traits that say who you are.
Then the field writes the rest.

Attributes are tracked, visible, and real.

They don’t tell you how powerful someone is.
They tell you what they can handle — and what they can’t.

Tactical Aptitude → movement logic, initiative, pattern recognition
Combat Proficiency → weapon handling, suppressive control, accuracy under pressure
Medical Skill → trauma triage speed, stabilization window, survival chain timing
Engineering / Ordnance → sabotage, breach reliability, trap handling, repair logic
Cohesion / Leadership → morale effects, squad trust, command resilience
Wound Resilience → ability to function while injured, collapse delay, bleedout resistance

Attributes can rise — through survival, Scar offset, mentorship.
They can fall — from trauma, failure, or persistent breakdown.

They’re shaped by what you do, not what you buy.

THE SYSTEM

You breach under pressure? That’s noted.
You run point three ops in a row? That’s noted.
You freeze when your squadmate bleeds out next to you?
That’s noted too.

Nothing gets forgotten.
Not by the system.

FORWARD

Eventually, the record becomes something you can see.
A file. A flag. A trait.
A dossier someone else reads before they trust you.

We’ll talk more about that next time.

But for now — just know:
the system remembers.[/p]


//----


Attached Excerpt // Development Feed

Here’s a sneak peek at the kind of systems being stitched in behind the numbers:

One of those systems is dynamic missions — ops that don’t sit pre-scripted, but emerge organically as campaigns unfold. Intel finds, patrol chatter, or sudden shifts on the ground trigger missions that queue for the player to act on… or ignore.

That kind of organic, lived-in design sets Burned Horizons apart — and is another reason why operators who’ve seen it are connecting. Example follows:

[/p]

\[XIN // GHOSTRIDE]
Intel drop flagged a derailed supply convoy outside Lyskov Yard.
UKR patrol hit the site and found a BTR-80 abandoned across the tracks.
Local chatter calls it Ghostride.
Mission profile logged under dynamic ops queue — optional intercept.

\[ FSR-02-18037-LGV // GHOSTRIDE ]

[p]

* [ EARLY CONCEPT ART — NOT FINAL ]

//----

SUPPORT THE OP
👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.

OPN-FULCRUM // PHASE 2 → JAN 2026. Mission-critical funding op to carry Burned Horizons forward. Stay locked in — followers get the deployment notice first.
ALPHA SIGNUPS // Open.

// OPERATION LIVE FIRE // EARLY ALPHA TEST

Early Alpha is a live test of the game in its early state — expect rough edges.
This deployment is the first of several. The Alpha will continue in stages and
evolve forward into Beta as development advances.

Keys are limited. Slots will close fast.

Wishlist + Follow on Steam
Screenshot proof
Uplink screenshot to #fwd-dep (Discord)

Alpha deployment begins December 2026.
Feedback from this run will shape the fight ahead.

HQ will transmit confirmation if you make the cut.
Until then — stand by.

HOLD THE LINE. ALWAYS FORWARD. [/p]


//----


[The week in review:
— 1,900 new wishlists on Steam
— Featured by Turn-Based Lovers
— Picked up in Popular Airsoft
— Initial trailer in progress // deployment window Oct 2026
— Development of Early Alpha in UE5 in progress

The line is moving.


//----


b]SUPPORT THE OP
👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.

OPN-FULCRUM // PHASE 2 → JAN 2026. Mission-critical funding op to carry Burned Horizons forward. Stay locked in — followers get the deployment notice first.