BURNED HORIZONS News

[p][/p][p][/p][p]// DISPATCH[/p][p][/p][p]We’ve talked a lot about gameplay and immersion — the mechanics, tactics, player agency, modding, all the things that make this different from the usual “point-and-shoot” tactics game — but we haven’t stepped back and shined a light on why the first theater is what it is. There’s a real reason this story starts here, and it ties directly into the experience we’re building. Before diving deeper into everything else, it felt right to put that reasoning back on the table.
[/p][p]// BEGINNINGS[/p][p]Beginnings. Everything has a beginning. Ours was born from frustration — with shallow gameplay, paper-thin treatment of what war does to people, and the lack of agency in most games. Burned Horizons is a tactical war game, yes — but it’s also about stripping the glamor off war. War is brutal. War breaks people. You wouldn’t know that from most of what’s out there. A few titles, like This War of Mine, come closer. But there are not nearly enough that do so.[/p][p]Enter Burned Horizons — our rejection of business-as-usual game design. We’re building systems with depth, complexity, and consequences that mirror the real world. How trauma shapes behavior. How experience changes people. How war breaks them. We’ve thrown out the gamey — RNG coin flips, XP trees, bullet sponges, robotic AI. Modding isn’t an afterthought here — it’s built in. And the maps? They’re big. Not “skirmish at a barn” big — full-theater, multi-region, sprawling, immersive. Because we’re not simulating a firefight. We’re showing what war feels like — and what it does to the people caught in it.
[/p][p]// WHERE & WHY[/p][p]And that brings us to where. Where does this begin? That led us to Ukraine. As much as we’re building a sandbox war sim, we’re also telling a story — one with some hard, eternal truths behind it. There are plenty of places around the world where stories like this could begin. But we chose Ukraine, because what the people there have been enduring didn’t start in 2014. And it sure as hell didn’t end there.
[/p][p]// RDC-TRIDENT[/p][p]So Ukraine — and the surrounding regions of Belarus, Russia, Moldova, and Poland — became our first theater. We talked about fictional countries. But it didn’t feel honest. We’ve shifted the timeline, condensed real events, and changed the names of cities and locations. Yes, we changed the names. Out of respect. Because we’re not here to use someone else’s grief as a prop. This isn’t a documentary — it’s a story. A story drawn from history, sharpened into something playable - but what we’re sharing is still the truth. A truth that was clear long before Putin’s latest wave of terror and brutality. A truth that monsters like him don’t stop — until someone stops them.
[/p][p]// CHOICES[/p][p]And for us — narratively, morally — that struggle needs to be told and felt. One of the foundations of our story is choosing what’s right over what’s politically safe. In Ukraine’s case, that’s a lesson some Western governments still haven’t learned. Dribbling out aid. Giving just enough for people to survive — but not enough to win. Not doing everything in their power to undermine Putin's regime. That’s not help. That’s letting political calculation decide how much brutality the world can stomach.[/p][p]You’d think history would’ve taught them how that plays out.[/p][p]Burned Horizons is built for the people who want more than a game. Who want to see what’s real — and decide what to do with it.
[/p][p]//----
[/p][p]DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE — AND TO ALL THOSE STANDING WITH THEM TODAY.[/p][p]We see you. We honor your struggle. We acknowledge your sacrifices. We mourn those you've lost. And we believe for you, for everyone who chooses freedom over fear— the only way forward is victory. Victory over a brutal tyrant in Moscow, and those who follow his path.

ПРИСВЯЧЕНО НАРОДУ УКРАЇНИ — І ВСІМ, ХТО СЬОГОДНІ СТОЇТЬ ПОРУЧ З НИМИ.[/p][p]Ми бачимо вас.
Ми вшановуємо вашу боротьбу.
Ми визнаємо ваші жертви.
Ми оплакуємо тих, кого ви втратили.[/p][p]І ми віримо — для вас, для всіх, хто обирає свободу замість страху — є лише один шлях уперед: перемога.
Перемога над жорстоким тираном у Москві та тими, хто йде за ним.[/p][p][/p][p]Slava Ukraini.[/p][p]Heroyam Slava.[/p][p]Слава Україні. Героям слава.

//----

Always Forward.

👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.[/p][p][/p][p]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.

Join the Discord[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]// DISPATCH UPDATE
[/p][p]Quick signal check. It’s been a couple weeks since the last Steam dispatch, but that time hasn’t been idle—most of the work has been bringing the core systems into alignment and getting the Closed Early Alpha stable enough to start showing.[/p][p]We’re lining up the first rounds of gameplay footage now. We could push some of it today, but we want a few more elements tightened before we release clips publicly. The plan is to begin dropping short field-test videos mid to late this week, then continue releasing more as additional systems come online.[/p][p]Between now and December 15, expect a steady drip of movement tests, basic combat actions, operator reactions, and UI elements as they lock in. December 15 remains the target for the Closed Early Alpha launch. From there through mid/late January, we’ll continue updating and polishing that build as we approach the Kickstarter window.[/p][p]We’re also including an early look at the Command Wheel mockups—these are rough concepts, not final UI.[/p]

• [p]The inner ring contains persistent toggles and stance-level behaviors.[/p]
• [p]The outer ring contains direct commands.[/p]
• [p]Highlighting a command will pull up its sub-commands or action variants.[/p]

[p]Early sketches below.[/p][p]More updates soon.
[/p][p]Always Forward.

👉 WISHLIST + FOLLOW // Every mark adds weight to the push ahead.[/p][p][/p][p]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.

Join the Discord[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]⬤ D-LOG ENTRY \[0018]
[/p][p]\[// DEV][/p][p]\[2025-10-27-1100][/p][p]\[POE // DV-98][/p][p]\[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA][/p][p]\[RE: WOUNDS]
[/p][p]If a round hits the arm, what actually happens? You don’t just take a number off a health bar. [/p][p]You lose strength, precision, control - possibly the ability to operate altogether.[/p][p]So there need to be levels to it. Light hits versus major trauma.
[/p][p]First level’s a graze. It hurts, throws your aim, maybe bleeds a little. Doesn’t stop you.[/p][p]Next level — the round goes in. Muscle damage. Grip starts to fail. Reloads get slower. Blood [/p][p]starts to matter if you don’t stop it.
[/p][p]Next — bone hit or artery nicked. The arm barely works, bleeding fast, maybe dropping the [/p][p]weapon altogether.
[/p][p]FUBAR— catastrophic. Limb’s done. You’re in shock. It’s survival at that point, not combat.[/p][p]Same logic applies across the body. Leg hit slows everything — movement, stance, ability to [/p][p]get to cover. A bad one and you’re crawling or pinned.
[/p][p]Torso hits are different. You can still move for a few seconds, maybe longer, but bleed-out starts [/p][p]fast.
[/p][p]Head or neck is just over — doesn’t need stages, just a roll between stunned and gone.[/p][p]All of that ties into what happens after.
[/p][p]A light wound can be patched quick. Pressure, wrap, move on.
[/p][p]Bad one needs a tourniquet. You stop the bleed, but that limb’s finished until you can get real[/p][p]treatment.
[/p][p]Severe trauma or critical hits push toward shock — breathing gets shallow, aim starts to drift, [/p][p]color fades, sound narrows.
[/p][p]You get hit, there’s consequence. Movement slows, aim shakes, blood loss starts counting [/p][p]down. You decide whether to fight, crawl, or stop the bleed.
[/p][p]Later, this ties into longer-term states — scars, permanent impairment, mental collapse, all of it. [/p][p]Every hit changes how you operate.
[/p][p]How it all works in the real world.



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

OPN LIVE FIRE

Confirmed. OPERATION LIVE FIRE begins 15 DEC 2025.
Keys issued will trigger installs on that date.
Few slots left on the board — move fast.

WISHLIST + FOLLOW on Steam. Screenshot proof. Drop it in #⁠fwd-dep on BH Discord server for review.

This build is a limited-scope early alpha — the first live systems test ahead of the Kickstarter campaign in JAN 2026.

Parameters: restricted scope. Live fire. No safeties.
Pre-op brief and readiness checks inbound.

Hold the line. Always Forward.




//----


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-logs 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.

PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK'S D-LOG:





⬤ D-LOG ENTRY [00010]

[// DEV]
[2025-07-28-0815]
[POE // DVG-98]
[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
[RE: TACTICAL SCREENS]

Pushing forward on the tactical screen interaction set. These are ~95% complete — a few subscreens still need to be built and some polish remains, but the core structure is locked.

Each mock-up represents a different interaction layer:

Mission-Critical Left Rail
Always visible: squad roster, health, ammo count, encumbrance flags. What you need right now.

Bottom Panel / Hotbar
Expands focus on the selected operator. Players can set 10–15 hotbar slots by clicking the “+” in the final box. Each slot supports A/B states, effectively doubling capacity (20–30 actions). Hotbars can also be toggled minimalist — roll-over only if you want a cleaner HUD.

Field Intelligence Kit
A tactile, in-world screen for intel, documents, and recovered items. Keeps some interaction outside the SPARTA notebook to preserve immersion.

Character / Inventory Panel
The maximalist layout. Displays all loadout layers at once — rucksack MOLLE attachments, drop bags, plate carriers, sidearms, and kit slots. Most equipment supports A/B (sometimes C) layering (undershirt / shirt / coat, for example). Gray X marks show unused capacity when a smaller carrier/ruck is equipped.

Top Bar / Status Strip
Shows the operator’s vital stats and role context: codename, role ID, theater, “rank,” scars, traits, attributes, skills, and conditional flags (hunger, cold, wounds, etc.). It’s not the full service jacket, but it’s everything you need at-a-glance.

As with the rest of the interface, visibility here is fully configurable. By default, all layers are shown at once, but players can pare it down — set panels to roll-over or click-only states — so the view feels less like a system readout and more like being physically present in the field. (edited)Tuesday, September 2, 2025 2:38 AM



[ NOT FINAL BUILD ]


[ NOT FINAL BUILD ]


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


⬤ D-LOG ENTRY [00011]

[// DEV]
[2025-08-04-0815]
[POE // DVG-98]
[NAFOSEC // NCC-RIGA]
[RE: TACTICAL SCREENS // INVENTORY TRANSFERS]

Granularity. It would just be much easier to have one big bag of holding and call it a day. If that was the case though, I'd probably be playing someone else's game.
So... here we are. Once again balancing immersion, authenticity, intuitiveness, and aestethic fidelity on one of the last remaining Tactical screen subpanels - the Character-to-Charcter/Team Inventory trasnfers. And this is by far one of the hardest because of all the things you have to accomplish in a tight space.

>> You have to try and give players as much as an overview as you can of all team members/gear on the same screen, and make it easy to move that gear between them. If each character had a limited inventory it would be so much easier. But we have a rather detailed and realsitic one. <<

// FOCUS OPERATOR: The Operator you're focused on gets priority. So, Widow goes on the left. Keep her gear order matching the previous panel for continuity. Reduce icon/slot sizing AMAP. This takes up less than a quarter of the total screen space; any smaller gets tough to read. The focus operator (and team members) have rucksacks that can be expanded/opened upwards (covering the space above them) if there isn’t enough room. Not perfect, but it adds to the immersion of opening the ruck. Immersion +1.

// TEAM(S)
Now for the Teams. You’ll never get everyone on screen with all gear showing if you have more than 3–4 members, unless you shrink things until they’re unreadable. So, the solution is a compromise: everything viewable at once, with vertical scrolling if you exceed 3–4 members. Players can also toggle collapsed inventory as default or expand it per use.

Collapsed view shows operator profile and two rows of gear. The PWS moves to row two so it stays visible if collapsed, with everything else bumped down. On both focus operator and team members, the Bandolier and Drop Bag are stacked vertically to match the main layout. The only difference is A|B states are now two columns — this fills space and makes those gear slots easier to interact with on this screen.


[ NOT FINAL BUILD ]

>> Proximity During Combat (Turn Based) and Non Combat (Real Time): TIC - Team members must be within 2 meters of the character they’re swapping gear with. Operators outside that range still show, but their profile is greyed out and an action message below their callsign indicates they need to move closer. OOC - players must be within X meters (e.g. 100m) to trade gear. These settings can also be toggled in SOPs. <<

// STAGING AREA: This serves two purposes: 1) a "table" for swapping — gear can be pulled from operators and placed here to be reassigned manually; 2) auto-sort — place gear here, select an operator by clicking their profile, and hit transfer. Items move according to sort settings; if something won’t fit, it stays in the SA and the player is notified. A confirmation also shows what moved and into which slot.

All transfers cost (1) AP during combat, no matter how many items move. Closing and reopening the screen during tic charges another AP. OOC transfers are free.

// KIT CHECK: This works like calling an 'ammo check' to see who has extras. You can filter for specific items, and any operator carrying them will have their name highlighted along with the slots those items are in.


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


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]